
Book.^ilfii 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT 



MODERN JAPAN 



PROBLEMS OF THE NATIONS 

Paul Leland Haworth, Ph, D., Editor 

PUBLISHED 
AMERICA IN FERMENT . . By Paul Leland Haworth 

Author of The Hayes-Tilden Election, Recon- 
struction and Union, George Washington — 
Farmer, Etc. 

THE CANADIAN COMMONWEALTH . By Agnes C. Laut 

Author of Lords of the North, Pathfinders of 
the West, Hudson's Bay Company, Etc. 

FRANCE: HER PEOPLE AND HER SPIRIT 

By Laurence Jerrold 

Author of The Real France, The French and 
the English, Etc. 

MODERN JAPAN 

By Amos S. Hershey and Susanne W. Hershey 

Professor Hershey is author of The Interna- 
tional Law and Diplomacy of the Russo- 
Japanese War, The Essentials of International 
Public Law, Etc. 



MODERN JAPAN 

SOCIAL— INDUSTRIAL— POLITICAL 

By 
AMOS S. HERSHEY 

Prtfsssw 8/ Political Science and International Law., Indiana University 

jtuthor of The Essentials of International Public Law^ 

The International Law and Diplomacy of 

the Russo-JapAitese War^ etc. 



SUSANNE W. HERSHEY 



/Q3/ 



INDIANAPOLIS 

THE BOBBS-MERRILL COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 



Copyright 1919 
The Bobbs-Merrill Company 



:P> 






PRESS OF 

BRAUNWORTH & CO. 

BOOK MANUFACTURERS . 

8R0OKLYN, N. V. 



MAK 27 1919 



X 



'r\ 



©CI.A515043 



PREFACE 

This small volume is not a book of impressions ; 
nor is it a tourist's record of experiences ; nor can it 
be claimed that it is the result of years of study and 
observation growing out of a prolonged residence 
in Japan or contact with the Japanese people. 

Yet, after having devoted the leisure of several 
years to a study of things Japanese, the authors vis- 
ited Japan and made their investigations under the 
guidance of friends and acquaintances — ^native Japa- 
nese and foreign residents of many years — who 
were far more familiar than they with Japan, its 
people, its laws, its traditions and its customs. 

In fact, they have gathered their information 
from many sources which would be difficult to indi- 
cate, nor would it be possible to mention the names 
of the numerous people who, whether by their writ- 
ings or by direct personal assistance, have been so 
very helpful. 

The authors can here merely express, in a general 
way, their gratitude and appreciation for such aid, 
the results of which they have tried to sift and util- 
ize to the best of their judgment and ability. 

A. S. H. and S. W. H. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER ' PAGE 

I Cherry Blossoms and Realities 1 

II The Land and the People . 8 

III The Japanese Family 18 

IV Progress of the Japanese Woman 31 

V The Educational System of Japan .... 48 

VI Religion in Japan — Shintoism, Buddhism and 

Confucianism 80 

VII Religion in Japan — Christianity 106 

' VIII Industrial Development of Japan .... 124 

X, IX Social and Economic Conditions 147 

X Poverty and Social Evils 176 

XI Charities, Benevolences and Mutual Aid . . 197 

XII The Government and Constitution .... 215 

XIII Political Parties and Politics 235 

XIV The Expansion of Japan — Korea 254 

XV The Expansion of Japan — Manchuria . . . 277 

XVI Japanese Aims and Policy in China .... 291 

XVII Japan and the United States . . . . . .319 

XVIII Possibilities of War Between Japan and the 

United States 341 

XIX Recent Developments in the International Re- 
lations of Japan 347 

Index 375 



MODERN JAPAN 



MODERN JAPAN 

CHAPTER I 

CHERRY BLOSSOMS AND REALITIES 



I 

When the curious foreigner landed in Japan, 
over sixty years ago, he imagined that he was en- 
tering a half-civiHzed country, peopled with semi- 
barbarians, whose strange customs and poHte ways 
indicated a mere veneer or perhaps an imitation of 
Chinese civilization. What, therefore, must have 
been his deHght when he found himself in the midst 
of a novel and highly developed culture preserved 
for centuries uncontaminated by contact with out- 
side influences! 

When this fascinating and artistic people showed 
itself eager to learn the secrets of modern civiliza- 
tion and exhibited a marvelous facility for acquir- 
ing and adopting Western ideas and machinery, is 
it surprising that their teachers should have sung 
the praises of their apt pupils and heralded to the 
world a somewhat exaggerated idea of their prog- 
ress and capability? 

After these facile students had learned that they 
I 



2 MODERN JAPAN 

could walk and even run upon their own feet and 
could see with their own eyes, they dismissed their 
instructors (though with generous presents and pro- 
fuse thanks), entered into trade rivalries with for- 
eign agents or merchants, and finally demonstrated 
to the world that they could fight and win real bat- 
tles in true European style. Is it therefore astonish- 
ing that the erstwhile benevolent and patronizing 
attitude of the foreigner should have changed to one 
of concern or disapproval? To a certain extent 
indiscriminate praise gave way to harsh and undis- 
criminating criticism. Instead of receiving smiles 
and words of praise, the former protege was often 
greeted with frowns or sneers, his motives were 
frequently questioned or misrepresented and his 
weaknesses exposed or over-emphasized. 

The Japanese themselves, though certainly more 
reticent and reserved, had undergone a somewhat 
similar process of disillusionment. Delighted at 
first with the novelty and utility of Western ideas 
and methods, grateful beyond words to their effi- 
cient instructors, overcome with a sense of their own 
ignorance and deficiencies, they naturally reveled in 
their new knowledge and often failed properly to 
appreciate the merits of their own civilization. 

In the first mad rush for knowledge and enlight- 
enment many of the Japanese had lost all sense of 
proportion and had surrendered themselves to un- 
discriminating admiration of nearly all things for- 
eign. But when it became apparent that Western 



CHERRY BLOSSOMS AND REALITIES 3 

civilization had its defects and blemishes, the Japan- 
ese began to suspect that their own culture contained 
elements which were perhaps equal, if not superior, 
to those of Europe and America. 

They began to ask, "What would it profit us as 
a nation if we gained the whole world and lost our 
own soul?" A reaction set in which led them, at 
least for a time, to disparage Western ideas and 
over-value their own attainments and achievements. 
This reaction has by no means exhausted itself, but 
beyond question their best minds are dissatisfied 
with many things foreign and Japanese alike and 
are looking forward to a sort of fusion of the best 
and to an elimination of the worst in both civiliza- 
tions. 

And if it is true that the Japanese have begun to 
exhibit a juster and saner appreciation of things 
Western, is it not time that Westerners began to 
exhibit a juster and more discriminating apprecia- 
tion of things Japanese? Is it not time that we 
realized that while the Japanese may still have much 
to learn from us, they may possibly be able to teach 
us something; and that we also should aim at the 
adoption of the best and the elimination of the 
worst in both Occidental and Oriental civilizations ? 
The first prerequisite for such a purpose would be 
fuller knowledge and a mutual understanding in 
order that we may know what to accept and what to 
reject. 

Though there are honorable exceptions, it must 



4 MODERN JAPAN 

be admitted that too many of the books on Japan 
hitherto produced have been written either by writ- 
ers wearing rose-colored pro- Japanese spectacles or 
in an anti-Japanese spirit of undiscerning criticism. 
The Japanese themselves have begun to resent the 
cherry-blossom view of Japanese life almost as much 
as they resent the vexatious faultfinding inspired 
largely by the foreigners at the treaty-ports. 



II 



It must be admitted that an absolutely just and 
discriminating interpretation of things Japanese is 
a difficult and delicate, perhaps impossible, achieve- 
ment. With the exception of the missionaries and 
diplomatic and consular officials, most foreigners in 
Japan are ranged in two opposing camps — labeled 
pro- or anti-Japanese. The visitor is in danger of 
being haled into one or the other of these camps 
and thus runs the risk of becoming hopelessly biased 
or one-sided. 

In the clubs or at the treaty-ports he is in espe- 
cial danger of falling into the hands of anti- Japa- 
nese merchants of narrow outlook and experience 
who are embittered by a sense of defeat or disap- 
pointment. On the other hand, if he be monopolized 
by certain types of missionaries or Japanese offi- 
cials he may become saturated with too roseate a 
view of Japanese aims, methods and progress. 

The Japanese are particularly prone to put their 



CHERRY BLOSSOMS AND REALITIES 5 

best foot foremost, and unless one is careful he may 
be misled by official attentions which tend to conceal 
rather than reveal social and political defects. 

If one allows for a certain amount of religious 
bias, the missionary-educators constitute, on the 
whole, the best available source of first-hand guid- 
ance, at least for the student-observer with limited 
time and a lack of knowledge of the Japanese lan- 
guage. Intelligent and experienced missionaries are 
almost the only foreign residents in Japan who 
really see beneath the mask of Japanese etiquette 
and succeed in breaking down the reserve of the 
people. They alone are as a class sufficiently 
equipped with that intimate knowledge, charitable 
tolerance, life-long experience and sympathetic in- 
sight which are essential to the understanding of 
any race. To them the Japanese are just plain ordi- 
nary folk with the vices and weaknesses of human- 
kind the world over, but with infinite potentialities^ 
for progress. 

Yet one must not forget that even the best mis- 
sionaries have their own peculiar limitations, among 
which are a bias in favor of things Western and 
Christian and an optimistic faith in the appearance 
of progress and improvement not always justified 
by reality. They are perhaps too apt to accept 
promises for performances, and they do not always 
appraise at their real value Japanese virtues and 
ideals as compared with those labeled Christian and 
Western, 



6 MODERN JAPAN 

III 

In the interpretation of Japanese life and insti- 
tutions there is involved a yet more serious diffi- 
culty than that of weighing evidence or eliminating 
religious bias. It is that of establishing and main- 
taining a more or less consistent standard or basis 
of criticism. As Westerners imbued with Western 
ideas of progress and development, we are bound 
to judge with a certain Occidental bias and to apply 
merely Western standards. If, for example, we 
should feel it within our province to criticize Jap- 
anese art, music or literature, we should inevitably 
judge from a more or less Western point of view. 
So with Japanese political, social and economic con- 
ditions and institutions which to us seem rather 
primitive or belated in comparison with our own, 
defective and inadequate as these may be. 

To Japanese such comparisons must often seem 
odious and unjust, though in a work of this kind 
comparisons of this sort are unavoidable. How- 
ever, it must be said that by adopting the forms 
and standards of Western civilization the Japanese 
have themselves invited this comparison, and it is 
doubtful whether they would be willing to be judged 
by any other standard. Like Americans of an ear- 
lier generation, they are believed to be sensitive to 
unfavorable criticism, though they are supposed not 
to resent the strictures of sincere friends. 

In this light the writers of this bock would wish 



CHERRY BLOSSOMS AND REALITIES 7 

to be regarded. Nothing has been set down in 
malice. Nor has aught been written in the spirit 
of patronage. 

Though conscious of the many courtesies received 
at Japanese hands, the authors have no confidence in 
friendship which finds expression in a mere exchange 
of flowery compHments or expressions of mutual 
good will; nor in that fellowship which ignores the 
main points of dispute, and carefully conceals short- 
comings and defects. They can only hope that friends 
in Japan will not misunderstand or misinterpret their 
motives in presenting to the public in the succeeding 
chapters a frank expression of their views. 



CHAPTER II 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 



Like Great Britain, the Japanese homeland is 
insular in character. The seventy to seventy-five 
million inhabitants occupy a long, continuous chain 
of over forty-two hundred volcanic islands in the 
Pacific Ocean. These islands, of which only about 
five or six hundred are inhabited, extend over two 
thousand miles in a longitudinal curve from Kam- 
chatka in Russian Siberia almost to the northern 
extremity of the Philippine Islands. They lie from 
a hundred to five hundred miles distant from the 
continent of Asia and afford nearly every possible 
variety of climate and products. The Empire in- 
cludes Korea, the southern extremity of the Liao- 
tung Peninsula, the railway zone in Manchuria, and 
the colony of Formosa. 

The main island — ^to most foreigners the real 
Japan or Nippon — is Hondo or Honshu, a narrow, 
crescent-shaped island extending northeastward 
eight hundred miles (1170 miles by railway) from 
Shimonoseki opposite Fusan in Korea, with an area 
of over eighty thousand square miles — ^about equal 
to that of Kansas — an average width of seventy- 

8 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 9 

five miles, and a coast-line variously estimated at 
from forty-seven hundred to sixty-six hundred 
miles. Honshu has a population of nearly forty 
millions, and contains the important cities of Tokyo, 
Yokohama, Kyoto, Osaka and Kobe. The triangle 
formed by the three cities last named constitutes 
one of the most thickly populated regions of the 
globe. 

The southern end of the main island is separated 
from two much smaller ones — Shikoku and Kiuskiu 
— by the beautiful Inland Sea, an almost landlocked 
portion of the Pacific Ocean two hundred and sev- 
enteen miles in length. 

To the north of Honshu, separated by the Tsu- 
garu Strait, lies the island of Hokkaido, formerly 
known as Yezo, with an area of thirty thousand 
square miles — ^about that of South Carolina. Yezo 
was long left to the hairy Ainu, the aborigines of 
Japan, and is still in process of colonization. 

The area of Japan proper is over 142,000 square 
miles; that of the whole Japanese Empire 257,290 
square miles, not quite equal to that of the single 
state of Texas. 

Japan is a country of mountains and valleys sur- 
rounded by the sea and is indented with numerous 
bays or inlets, affording many harbors for safe an- 
chorage, especially on the side facing the Pacific. 
Like Italy and Greece with regard to each other, 
Nippon may be said to turn her back upon the sea 
that separates her from coveted China. There is 



lo MODERN JAPAN 

a long chain of mountains running lengthwise 
through the main islands, or rather two chains 
which meet in the middle of Honshu, forming the 
immense upheaval popularly known as the "J^P^-" 
nese Alps.'^ Thus in Japan, as the saying has it, 
"Two voices are there: one is of the sea, one of 
the mountains, each a mighty voice." 

The country boasts of at least two hundred vol- 
canoes, and the delicate instruments of expert seis- 
mologists are able to detect an average of nearly 
fifteen hundred seismic disturbances in the course 
of a year. But flood, typhoon and famine are much 
more destructive forces, and it may be questioned 
whether, except in the effect on Japanese architec- 
ture, earthquakes have materially influenced the art 
and civilization of the Japanese. 

More important in its effects on Japanese art and 
civilization is the climate, which may in general be 
characterized as very humid, necessitating frequent 
hot baths with resultant personal cleanliness. Rains 
are extremely frequent, there being an average of 
but two hundred fifteen fair days a year in Nip- 
pon. Owing to the long extent of the islands from 
the arctic north to the tropical south, the tem.pera- 
ture naturally varies from extreme cold to extreme 
heat But the climate of the main islands is mod- 
erate. 

To the insularity of Japan may be ascribed its 
immunity from invasion or attack. Only twice in 
their history have these islanders been even threat- 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE ii 

ened: once at the close of the thirteenth century 
when Kublai Khan, after his conquests in China, 
sent an unlucky armada to the Japanese coasts ; and 
again in 1905, when the ill-fated Russian fleet met 
with disaster in the Korean Straits. Like England, 
Japan occupies a strategic position on the sea which, 
with the aid of her navy, has made her practically 
invulnerable to invaders. 

To the student of Japanese economy, it is of the' 
first importance to note that, owing to the moun- 
tainous character of the country, only about one- 
seventh, i. e., less than fifteen per cent, of the soil 
is arable or capable of cultivation. In spite of this 
fact the country is predominantly agricultural and 
from sixty to seventy per cent, of the people are 
farmers or peasants. 

The lack of sufficient arable land for the rapidly 
growing agricultural population furnishes one of 
the most difficult problems of Japanese statesman- 
ship. True it is that there is still left some margin 
for reclamation by means of the opening of new and 
uncultivated land, improvements in method of culti- 
vation, and a readjustment of farms. By such 
means it has been estimated that in the course of 
time (probably in a few generations) the land may 
be made to yield an increase of over fifty per cent. 
Furthermore, there is still considerable room for 
settlers in the northern island of Hokkaido. But 
the population of Japan proper increases yearly from 
five hundred thousand to six hundred thousand, or 



12 MODERN JAPAN 

at an annual rate of 1.2 per cent., the rate being 
nearly equal to that of Italy and inferior only to 
that of Russia and Germany. Even now Japan is 
importing over twenty-five million dollars' worth 
of foodstuffs, including a cheap quality of rice from 
India, and her imports of both luxuries and neces- 
sities tend to increase. The average density of pop- 
ulation surpasses that of Italy, Germany or France, 
and is only slightly exceeded by that of Belgium, 
Holland and Great Britain. 



II 



The peasants constitute the backbone of the na- 
tion. They are a hardy, thrifty, laborious folk, 
content with little and obedient to the point of 
servility to those in authority. They lead the nor- 
mal life of the vast majority of mankind at all 
times and in all places and furnish a good illus- 
tration of the proprietary State which publicists 
Hke Belloc and Chesterton find so attractive. In 
no other country perhaps is there so large a pro- 
portion of small farmers owning their farms and 
the means of production. Nowhere is there a 
greater appearance of contentment, cheerfulness and 
prosperity in the midst of rural charm and pictur- 
esque scenery. Surely here, if anywhere, should be 
found a paradise on earth. 

Though intensive farming is the rule and irri'ga- 
tion is extremely common, there is, judged by West- 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 13 

em standards, a great lack of live stock,* and the 
agricultural methods and implements are, generally 
speaking, of the most primitive description. Re- 
cently there has been some progress in fruit culture. 
Rice is the staple crop, though barley and wheat are 
also extensively cultivated, and to a lesser degree, 
the millets, maize, soya beans, buckwheat, potatoes, 
tea, tobacco, ginseng and so forth. The planting 
and manufacture of tea is a considerable industry, 
but has remained curiously stationary for a number 
of years. 

Japan is preeminently a land of small holdings. 
The average area farmed by each family is usually 
from two to four acres, and most farmers are 
forcedf to combine agriculture with other occupa- 
tions. About one-half of the farmers own the land 
they cultivate subject to a heavy land tax of about 
fifteen to seventeen per cent. The tenants, who 



♦Through the aid and encouragement of the Government 
there has been great improvement in this respect within 
recent years. In 1912 there were 1,176,743 horses and 1,399,- 
468 cattle in Japan or an average of nearly one animal to 
each two households, and human labor is in part slowly being 
replaced by that of animals. Until recently, owing to the 
absence of cattle, the Japanese consumption of milk, meat 
and butter was very small. 

fThis is according to the Japanese Year Books. Pro- 
fessor Tsumura (See Japan Magazine for July, 1915) says: 
"Not more than 32 per cent, of those now farming are culti- 
vating their own land, which leaves at least two-thirds of the 
agricultural population tenant farmers." 



14 MODERN JAPAN 

constitute the remaining half of the cultivators, must 
pay an average of about fifty per cent, of the 
produce to the owner, who pays the land tax out 
of his share of the proceeds. But when it is noted 
that the tenant farmer has to pay all expenses inci- 
dental to fertilizing and sundries out of his half, it 
may readily be seen that the few acres under culti- 
vation can hardly produce enough for the barest 
subsistence of himself and family. That the ma- 
jority of peasant owners are little better off is indi- 
cated by the fact that the 5,410,000 peasant pro- 
prietors of Japan have an indebtedness of at least 
541,000,000 yen or an average of one hundred yen, 
or fifty dollars per household.* In fact, neither the 
tenant nor the peasant owner could possibly subsist 
were it not for subsidiary occupations. 

Chief among these subsidiary occupations are 
sericulture and filature or the rearing of silk-worms 
and the reeling of raw silk. These occupy at least 
a quarter of the households. Then follow the man- 
ufacture of such articles as braids, matting and 
ropes from rice straw; the making of matches, pa- 
per, fans and baskets; beekeeping, weaving, spin- 
ning, fishing and forestry-work. 



*This is the estimate of the Japanese Year Book for 1914, 
page 341. Some authorities make it much higher. Dr. 
Yokoi, for example, estimates the peasant indebtedness at 
1,500,000,000 yen or nearly thrice as much. In one prefecture 
the money lent averages 320 yen per house. See Japan 
Weekly Mail for February 18, 191 1. 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 15 

Though the number has been increasing within 
recent years, there are still, relatively speaking, few 
Japanese landlords or middle class land capitalists 
with farms ranging from 25 to 75 acres, or even 
as large as 8 to 10 acres. Hired laborers form a 
very small class and earn a very small wage, ranging 
from $5 to $42.50 per year, an average of only 
$21.67 P^^ y^3,r or 19 cents per day in the case of 
men, and $10.97 P^^ y^^^ or 11^ cents per day in 
the case of women. 

Intermingled with these millions of peasant cul- 
tivators are thousands of petty handicraftsmen and 
small retailers supplying the villages and country- 
side with their wares and labor. 



Ill 



It can hardly be maintained that the lot of these 
peasants or country and village folk is a happy one. 
Their economic condition is deplorable and seems 
to be steadily growing worse. Their mental and 
spiritual outlook is necessarily very narrow, and 
they are naturally extremely conservative, super- 
stitious and patriotic. Except for an occasional 
festival or pilgrimage to some religious shrine, 
there is a great lack of recreation and of interests 
larger than those of the family or village. The 
peasants toil early and late with little hope of recom- 
pense or reward. Is it surprising that the young 
people yearn for the amusements and pleasures of 



i6 MODERN JAPAN 

cities ? The peasants make good soldiers but would 
seem to constitute unpromising material for the de- 
velopment of a political or industrial democracy. 

However, the Japanese bureaucracy is doing 
much to improve and ameliorate the economic con- 
ditions of the peasants. Many model or experi- 
mental farms and agricultural stations have been 
established by the Government, the main or Imperial 
Agricultural Experiment Station being located at 
Nishigahara near Tokyo. It has several branch 
stations at Osaka and elsewhere, and there are also 
a considerable number of local or prefectural farms 
and stations. Numerous agricultural institutions 
are maintained by local funds, and hundreds of lec- 
turers on agriculture are engaged in disseminating 
a knowledge of practical and scientific farming. As 
a consequence, about twenty-five per cent, of the 
farming population may be said to possess some 
knowledge of scientific agriculture, over a million 
having attended farming classes or evening schools 
in 1 9 12. The crown of the system of agricultural 
education is, of course, the Agricultural College of 
the Imperial University at Tokyo. 

Several institutes for the study and investiga- 
tion of matters relating to sericulture (so impor- 
tant to the Japanese peasant as a subsidiary occu- 
pation) have been established, and there are also 
a number of local sericultural institutes. Especial- 
ly to be commended are the efforts made by the 
Government to increase the number and improve. 



THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE 17 

the quality of horses and cattle by means of Imperial 
horse studs -and cattle breeding farms. 

Within recent years the Government has been 
very successful in creating a spirit of co-operation 
and mutual aid among farmers. In 1900 a co-op- 
erative societies law was enacted providing for the 
organization of co-operative farmers' guilds or so- 
cieties for obtaining credit on the purchase, sale 
and production of commodities. At the end of 
1913 no less than 10,455 such societies had been 
formed with a total membership of 1,160,000 of 
which about eighty per cent, are farmers. Through 
the credit or loan societies, the hypothec and indus- 
trial banks of Japan have made considerable loans 
to farmers at from ten to fifteen per cent, interest, 
which in Japan is considered to be a low rate, the 
prevailing rate for a loan on credit having been 
as high as twenty per cent, and even more. 

On the whole, it must be said that while the lot 
of the peasant has been somewhat improved and 
ameliorated, his condition, judged by Western 
standards, can hardly be said to be an enviable one. 
It is only his ignorance of the poverty of that con- 
dition and a lack of knowledge or experience of the 
luxuries of modern life that render his existence 
at all tolerable. But it is this same ignorance, com- 
bined with poverty, which induces him to submit to 
his fate with apparent cheerfulness, and even to sell 
his daughters into the slavery of the Yoshiwara or 
the modern factory. 



CHAPTER III 

THE JAPANESE FAMILY 



The whole structure of social and political life in 
Japan is based on the family. In order to under- 
stand the Japanese family, full account must be 
taken of its religious, feudal and patriarchal origins. 
Since a very early period religion centered closely 
around patriarchal ideals and gave solidarity to fam- 
ily customs and observances which in the long run 
contributed much to the stability and cohesion of the 
whole nation. Certain collateral social evils have 
developed, however, along with the system. 

As in the case of the early Greeks and Romans, 
the first gods of the Japanese were the deified forces 
of nature and the dead or ghosts of the dead. In 
the main, nature-worship and the fear and worship 
of the spirits of the dead shaped the patriarchal 
system. 

The cult of nature- and ancestor-worship or the 
worship of the so-called kami* which included all 
things worthy of veneration, such as stones, moun- 



*For an explanation of the kami and Shintoism, see infra, 
chapter yi. 

i8 



THE JAPANESE FAMILY 19 

tains, rivers, animals and superior human beings, 
developed at an early period into Shintoism. Grad- 
ually a few simple laws for governing the family, 
clan or community were formulated. These laws 
were in the course of time reinforced and modified 
by the advent of the two later religions — Confu- 
cianism and Buddhism — introduced from China. 
These new religions soon absorbed Shintoism, or at 
least the soul of it, but the soul of old Japan — the 
worship of the kami — remained essentially Shinto. 

Ancestor-worship means that the spirits of the 
dead survive and are linked up with the spirits of 
the living descendants or hover always about them. 
The happiness and prosperity of the living depend 
largely upon the peace and happiness of the dead, 
who in order to continue happy require certain at- 
tentions from living descendants in the way of rites 
and ceremonies such as continuing the funereal re- 
pasts. Should they be neglected, the ancestral spir- 
its would fall to the rank of malevolent demons and 
wander about in perpetual misery and unrest. Such 
spirits often bring retribution upon the living for 
neglect by inflicting disease upon some member of 
the clan, or sterility upon the soil. In fact, they 
often give the living no rest until the sacrifices and 
offerings of nourishment are renewed whereby they 
are restored to the tomb and to their divine attri- 
butes. Clearly the dead take a most important part 
in the affairs of the living and particularly in the 
perpetuation of families. In view of this fact, celi- 



20 MODERN JAPAN 

bacy was a grave impiety and calamity : an impiety 
because he who did not marry put the happiness 
of his ancestors in peril, a calamity because no off- 
spring meant damnation to him who did not prop- 
agate. The man who died without a son received 
no offerings and was exposed to perpetual hunger. 



II 



An important canon of this ancestral cult held 
that the mysterious force which perpetuated life 
came only from the male. The female was merely 
a medium for protecting and nurturing this force, 
therefore she was relatively unimportant in the 
scheme of life. Herein lies the crux of the religious 
deification of the male and the subjugation of the 
female which appears in one form or another among 
most primitive peoples and religions. 

Marriage in its early development under the pa- 
triarchal system was never the joining together of 
two equal beings to live in equal fellowship. In 
Japan it was bringing to the son a woman who 
abandoned her own parents, her own ancestors, her 
own cult to adopt his, since no one could invoke two 
series of ancestors. Her prime function from the 
tim,e of marriage was to bear children to carry on 
her husband's family cult. Should she, perchance, 
prove sterile, this was ample ground for her being 
divorced, though later religious development made 
provisions against divorce in case the wife were 



THE JAPANESE FAMILY 21 

otherwise satisfactory to the family — that is, docile 
and submissive — ^by the adoption of a son of near 
kin or by acquiring a son through a concubine. 
Should the wife bear children but be otherwise un- 
satisfactory to her husband's family, she was di- 
vorced and the children remained in his family, she 
having absolutely no legal, physical or social claim 
upon them. 

Thus we perceive how the patriarchal system 
established the inferiority of woman, and Buddhist 
and Confucianist teaching, which centered round 
the patriarchal ideals, helped to reinforce her sub- 
jection and subserviency. Since the male was en- 
dowed with all the life-giving power, the female 
could not be his equal. Clearly by divine will she 
was not intended to be; therefore the wife could not 
rank with the husband, or the sister with the broth- 
er. This conception, to be sure, was not confined 
to Japan only. Up to a comparatively recent pe- 
riod the idea of the relative imimportance and in- 
feriority of the female formed the warp to the so- 
cial fabric of all Occidental life just as it still does 
throughout the entire Orient. 

Some years ago a social scheme was devised in 
Japan whereby the woman sometimes remains in 
her own family and a husband is adopted for her. 
Under this practice the woman does not perpetuate 
the cult of her own ancestors. This duty falls upon 
the adopted husband who, in turn, abandons his 
own family ancestors and takes her name. In case 



22 MODERN JAPAN 

the adopted husband is not satisfactory to her fam- 
ily, he is sent away and the children belong to her 
family. In any and all cases the ownership of the 
children is established with the family and not with 
the parents. But beyond question the patriarchal 
system implied the supreme dominance of the male 
and the absolute subjection of the woman and child, 
or at least the female child. Yet it is maintained 
that previous to the fifth and sixth centuries, when 
Confucianism and Buddhism were introduced, wom- 
an had more freedom and social privileges than she 
afterward enjoyed. Since then social and religious 
teachings have conspired to crystallize the standards 
which gave to man all the social and domestic priv- 
ileges and to woman only the domestic duties. 

Confucianism taught, in a word, that all women 
are naturally inferior to men; that the husband 
should have absolute right over the wife. Bud- 
dhism declares woman to be unclean and a tempta- 
tion, and the moral code for women is covered by 
the three obediences: obedience while yet unmar- 
ried to the father; obedience when married to the 
husband and parents-in-law; obedience when wid- 
owed to the eldest son. "Buddhism," Chamberlain* 
informs us, "was the teacher under whose instruc- 
tion the Japanese nation grew up." For centuries 
practically all education was in the hands of the 
Buddhist priests. 



♦Oiamberlain, Things Japanese (sth ed.), page 7& 



THE JAPANESE FAMILY 23 

In many respects the teachings of Confucius are 
above reproach, but undeniably the tenets concern- 
ing women are barbaric and contemptible to. the last 
degree. They are: 

I. Women are naturally inferior to men. 

II. Education of women should be restricted to 
reading and writing. 

III. Woman's primal duty is obedience. 

IV. Men and women (above seven years of age) 
should not sit together. 

V. Woman shall have no voice in selecting her 
husband. 

VI. The husband shall have the absolute right to 
rule the wife. 

VII. Between husband and wife let there be 
proper distinctions. 

The great Japanese moralist Kaibara sums up the 
established womanly and wifely virtues in The 
Greater Learning for Women as follows: "It is 
the chief duty of a girl living in the parental house 
to practice filial piety toward her mother and fath- 
er, but after marriage her chief duty is to honor 
her father-in-law and mother-in-law, to honor them 
beyond her own father and mother — to love and 
reverence them with all ardor, and to tend them 
with every practice of filial piety. ... A woman 
has no particular lord. She must look to her hus- 
band as her lord, and must serve him with all wor- 
ship and reverence, not despising or thinking lightly 
of him. The great life-long duty of a woman is 
obedience." 



24 MODERN JAPAN 

No less illuminating upon the legal and social 
status of women are The Seven Reasons for Di- 
vorce: "(i) A woman shall be divorced for dis- 
obedience to her father-in-law, or mother-in-law. 
(2) A woman shall be divorced if she fail to bear 
children, the reason for this rule being that women 
are sought in marriage for the purpose of giving 
men posterity. A barren woman should, however, 
be retained if her heart is virtuous and her con- 
duct correct and free from jealousy, in which case 
a child of the same blood must be adopted; neither 
is there any cause for a man to divorce a barren 
wife, if he have children by a concubine. (3) 
Lewdness is a reason for divorce. (4) Jealousy is 
a reason for divorce. (5) Leprosy or any like foul 
disease is a reason for divorce. (6) A woman shall 
be divorced who, by talking overmuch and prattling 
disrespectfully, disturbs the harmony of kinsmen 
and brings trouble on her household. (7) A wom- 
an shall be divorced who is addicted to stealing." 

Feudalism taught also that woman weakened 
courage and was an obstacle to the performance of 
duty. 

Clearly under the old Confucian-Buddhist feudal 
code the woman had little or no personal, social or 
legal standing. In fact, until a comparatively re- 
cent period the whole world has held to similar 
ideas concerning women, and has accepted the dom- 
inance of the male along with the idealization of 
war and its barbarities, and other social absurdities. 



THE JAPANESE FAMILY 25 

Ethical teaching in Japan as well as in most parts of 
the world has doubtless been partly responsible for 
the subjection and social segregation of- women. 
The teachings of Paul concerning women are in 
keeping with those of Confucius and Buddha. 

Under the old Japanese law the woman could not 
herself demand a divorce, become head of a house, 
hold property, contract in her own name, become 
guardian of her own child or adopt a child in her 
own name. 

Luckily in recent years, since the Japanese have 
become more familiar with European and American 
civihzation, much has been changed by the promul- 
gation and enactment of better laws concerning 
women, though public opinion still holds so tena- 
ciously to the old standards that a woman rarely 
takes advantage of her legal rights and it is said 
the courts discourage such action on the part of 
women by favoring men. However, under the new 
civil code a married woman may hold property in 
her own name and she may seek a divorce from her 
husband for bigamy, adultery, desertion with evil 
intent, sentence for an offense of grave nature, such 
cruel treatment or gross insult as make living to- 
gether unbearable, and for various other causes. 



Ill 



In considering the Japanese family one must bear 
in mind the complete absence of romantic love in 



26 MODERN JAPAN 

marriage and the absence of romantic gallantry in 
the feudal code of the Samurai. If love develops 
during wedded life, it must not appear in open 
demonstration, and whenever the demands of duty 
are pressing, affection must be renoun ed for the 
higher duty. Indeed it has not been ai uncommon 
occurrence for a wife to be sent home because her 
husband was too fond of her, as too much affection 
for a wife was considered a sign of weakness and 
demoralization in the husband, which might lead to 
neglect of other family obligations. Of loyalty and 
chivalry there was plenty in Bushido^ or the Way of 
the Warrior — ^but it was always between lord and 
vassal, master and servant, and never included 
women, at least not during the last ten centuries. 

Woman's part in marriage was one solely of 
duty, necessity and convenience — ^a matter over 
which she had no control and which she must ac- 
cept patiently and resignedly as she did her other 
obligations. As a child she belonged to her father 
and his family, and as a wife to her husband and 
his family. Under such conditions it would seem 
that the lot of woman was exceedingly hard and 
cruel, yet she had certain family and community 
rights of courtesy and respect accorded her and 
any infraction of these rights was punished by 
salutary family or community ostracism, often sub- 
tle in nature, but most effective. Friction, we are 



*See explanation of Bushido, infra, page 103. 



' THE JAPANESE FAMILY 2j 

told, was and still is most uncommon in the Jap- 
anese family. 

Although the duties and obligations imposed 
upon women by religion and the patriarchal and 
feudal systems were heavy and numerous, there 
were duties and obligations imposed also upon all 
members of the family, clan or community. No one 
was free from such responsibilities. 

A family was a group of persons who were under 
religious obligation to invoke the same sacrifices and 
to offer funereal repasts to the same ancestors. In 
the course of time many famihes had common gods. 
These families formed a dan or village community 
and were bound together by worship of a common 
god which imposed equal duties upon all. 

The Ujigami was the clan god, or first clan an- 
cestor, who brought good or bad luck, according as 
he was treated. If one member of the family or 
clan offended him, the whole community might suf- 
fer calamity, hence the obligation of each individual 
to .Conform to the clan requirements. In case of 
drought or famine the farmer prayed not to the 
Buddha, but to the Ujigami. If there were plenti- 
ful crops, it was not the Buddha who was thanked, 
but the ancient local clan god. 

A crime or breach of custom committed by an 
individual was a crime against the family or com- 
munity and the family or community god. There- 
fore, it was the business of the community to watch 
*each member's conduct and to report all misde- 



28 MODERN JAPAN 

meanors. Even to-day communal feeling runs strong; 
and one is apt to suffer from it since the com- 
munity may feel and act as one person. Lafcadio 
Hearn says: **By a single serious mistake a man 
may find himself suddenly placed in solitary oppo- 
sition to the common will and most effectively os- 
tracized. The silence and softness of the hostility 
only renders it all the more alarming." 

No wonder the Japanese are a custom- and con- 
vention-bound people, almost incapable of under- 
standing Western individualism, or the desire to do 
as one pleases. Even the little child is not exempt 
from the penalties of non-conformity. This, of 
course, partly explains Japanese reticence, conven- 
tionality and reluctance to speak frankly when 
frankness might offend, all of which the Westerner 
often misinterprets as deceit or disingenuousnesa 
and lack of imagination. 

Formerly the rigid Shinto communal code was 
made absolutely effective by laws forbidding a 
stranger to settle in a community without official 
permission. The official punishments for misde- 
meanors were physical punishment, ostracism or 
banishment for a period of years or possibly for life. 

A banished man became a social outcast. The 
very fact that he was banished was proof that he 
had offended his own local gods, and naturally no 
other local gods would accept him, therefore no com- 
munity must accept him. For the same reason he 
could not be allowed to work at his trade or occu- 



THE JAPANESE FAMILY 29 

pation since the labor guilds, which were well or- 
ganized and powerful, dared not accept hirn. 



IV 



In the light of the old established Japanese family 
code of social ethics, it is no wonder that progres- 
sive Japan is puzzled as to how to amalgamate the 
best Western family and social morality with the 
best of her own, since she has no intention of un- 
qualifiedly accepting or adopting Western customs 
and institutions. While the Japanese absorb and 
imitate readily, they do not absorb and imitate un- 
critically ; and they have begun to realize that much 
of their own civilization is better and preferable to 
ours and should be preserved. Yet they do not fail 
to see the evils and burdens fastened upon them by 
the old patriarchal feudal system, which is perhaps 
the least disturbed of all their old institutions. Col- 
lectively and individually the whole nation appears 
to be casting about for methods of eradicating these 
family evils. At the same time most of them are 
hoping to preserve the fabric of the family. 

Not the least of these family evils is the heavy 
burden placed upon the eldest son. The custom of 
the father turning over his business, often in the 
prime of life, to the eldest son is beginning to be 
regarded with constantly growing disfavor. By 
this custom the eldest son assumes the economic re- 
sponsibility not only of his own parents, his wife 



30 MODERN JAPAN 

and his own children, but of all members of his 
father's family who are in need of support or as- 
sistance. With the increased demands of living, 
this custom often places terrific burdens upon the 
eldest son and yet more onerous duties upon his 
wife. 

This change of attitude is only one of many evi- 
dences indicating that many links of the long chain 
of family customs and ideals which govern Japanese 
life no longer hold so tenaciously and will eventually 
break. The result will be the gradual disintegration 
of the whole patriarchal system, and a reconstructed, 
modernized family ethics and morality. 



CHAPTER IV 

PROGRESS OF THE JAPANESE WOMAN 



Since the emancipation of the Japanese woman 
implies the breaking up of the whole patriarchal 
system, her social evolution bids fair to be of long 
incubation and to follow in the rear of all other 
progressive movements in Japan. 

The modern progressive Japanese man may have 
acquired a passion for social development, he may 
have undergone a radical change of heart in matters 
of political and economic import, but in matters 
concerning woman he is apt to be tenaciously Orien- 
tal and patriarchal and to believe that the best way 
of preserving the virtues of woman is by keeping 
her more or less in subjection. 

Critics and students of Japan agree that in re- 
spect to the domestic virtues the Japanese wom- 
an, according to ancient ideals, is irreproachable. 
She is unanimously conceded to be the most docile, 
devoted, long-suffering, self-sacrificing and patient 
of her sex. In fact, she is the incarnation of do- 
mestic virtue. Her religion is one of untiring, un- 
complaining service, not in the larger, social sense, 
but to the family, more especially to the husband 
and mother-in-law, yet withal she is a Spartan pa- 

31 



32 MODERN JAPAN 

triot, as is every one in Japan, including the Japanese 
child. 

But the Japanese woman is in no way considered 
the equal of her husband. As wife she is common- 
ly addressed Okusanm, meaning the honorable lady 
of the house, though the literal meaning is hon- 
orable back room, implying retirement and seclu- 
sion. She is still only the first servant of the house- 
hold and as such is respected according as she fulfills 
the standard wifely requirements of docility, pa- 
tience and service to husband, mother-in-law and 
family. 

First and foremost, the Japanese woman is mis- 
tress of the art of administering to the physical 
comfort and well-being of the male, and we are told 
that the average Japanese man has not advanced 
beyond desiring a wife who can best administer to 
his personal comfort. One eminent writer main- 
tains that the ordinary Japanese man is still very 
vain, loves to be ceremoniously honored and glori- 
fied in his household as only the old-time wife can 
serve and glorify. Since the educated woman does 
not so easily lend herself to such subserviency, the 
average man will have none of her. 

Be this as it may, certain it is that of all modern 
progressive tendencies, the Japanese man admires 
least the freedom and aggressiveness of the modem 
progressive Western woman. His natural Oriental, 
patriarchal sex bias and restraint prevent him from 
studying the progressive woman at close range and 



PROGRESS OF JAPANESE WOMAN 33 

with an open mind as he studies otlier subjects. Con- 
sequently, he does not understand her and frequent- 
ly confounds her with a pushful, loud-voiced, self- 
indulgent type who wears extremely fashionable 
clothes and has far less sense of human and family 
obligation than has the geisha. 

Moreover, the Japanese man has long since 
learned that the Western man rarely measures up 
to his pretensions of business or domestic morality. 
If challenged to explain his belated attitude concern- 
ing woman, the Japanese man is apt to reply that 
his people have never considered women the equals 
of men; but that in spite of the romantic and do- 
mestic indulgences permitted to the Western wom- 
an, she is by no means treated as man's equal. The 
double standard of morality, with the terrible pen- 
alties inflicted mainly upon the woman, furnishes 
him with one of his most convincing arguments. 
The fact that in only a few localities are women 
allowed the franchise constitutes another argument. 
Still another is that in the evangelical churches 
women do most of the work, earn and collect much 
of the money for defraying the expenses, yet the 
control, honors and emoluments are practically all 
in the hands of the men. In this manner the Jap- 
anese man will continue to enumerate the undoubted 
evidences upholding his criticism, and with consider- 
able justice. 

Unquestionably, from the larger world of ideas 
and social intercourse the Japanese woman is far 



34 MODERN JAPAN 

more completely debarred than is the Western wom- 
an; and should she have ideas or opinions of her 
own, it behooves her not to express them in public. 
Mr. Gulick, in his interesting work entitled Evolw- 
tion of the Japanese, gives a quotation upon this 
subject from Captain Brinkely, the editor of The 
Japanese Mail, who was himself married to a Japa- 
nese woman and was strongly pro-Japanese. This 
statement appears to typify the common opinion of 
foreign critics as to the attitude of the average 
Japanese man toward woman. 

"The woman of Japan is a charming personage 
in many ways, — gracious, refined, womanly before 
everything, sweet-tempered, unselfish, virtuous, a 
splendid mother, and an ideal wife from the point 
of view of the master. But she is virtually excluded 
from the whole intellectual life of the nation. Poli- 
tics, art, literature, science, are closed books to her. 
She cannot think logically about any of these sub- 
jects, express herself clearly with reference to them, 
or take an intellectual part in conversations relating 
to them. She is, in fact, totally disqualified to be 
her husband's intellectual companion, and the inev- 
itable result is that he despises her." 

An incident illustrating how crystallized is the old 
point of view was related to us by a Japanese lady 
who, after having lived five years in the States, 
returned with her husband to Japan on a visit. A 
friend wished to give them an entertainment, but 
the husband stipulated that his wife should attend 
only on condition that the wives of the other guests 



PROGRESS OF JAPANESE WOMAN 35 

would also attend. On the evening of the gather- 
ing there were a number of geisha invited in as 
entertainers. Along one side of the room sat the 
wives who on arriving exchanged formal courte- 
sies with one another, after which they settled in 
silence to listen to the entertainment and to watch 
their husbands amusing themselves with the geisha 
in the intervals of the program. 

After the Americanized couple returned home, the 
husband reproached his wife: *'Why did you sit 
like a mummy during the entire evening and say 
nothing ?" 

"Did you wish me to appear immodest and un- 
womanly in the eyes of all your old friends?'* was 
her response. *'I have not forgotten that a Japa- 
nese woman must be silent in public if she wishes to 
be respected." 



II 



Perhaps nowhere among advanced nations is the 
thin switch of public opinion — particularly concern- 
ing woman — more stinging than in Japan. Indi- 
viduals dare not venture far in pursuing their per- 
sonal inclinations. No matter how enlightened or 
emancipated in her own mind a Japanese woman 
may be, she dare not follow out her own convictions. 
Before all she must "save face" for her husband, 
for his family and for her own family. If a pro- 
gressive woman ventured a little too far beyond the 



36 MODERN JAPAN 

accepted proprieties, she would soon find herself 
hampered at every turn, severely ostracized perhaps 
if she attempted to introduce any radical social or 
intellectual innovations for her fellow sisters. Like 
the forerunners of all great movements, such women 
in Japan are apt to be considered freakish or un- 
balanced. So if they wish to succeed they must 
move slowly and warily and not far in advance of 
public opinion. It is a notable fact that the major- 
ity of Japanese women who have been educated 
abroad and have had the best opportunities for lib- 
eral training, return home, settle to quiet teaching 
and conform pretty closely to the old conservative 
standards of silence and repression. Very few 
have been able to assert themselves in any prom- 
inent way and become real progressive leaders. Yet 
there are isolated evidences of positive agitation, 
even of revolt, among certain groups of women in 
the larger centers of Japan. 

Naturally, readjustment of a radical new order 
to the conservative old order begets many points 
of friction or conflict, so among the various groups 
of radical women there appear many points of dif- 
ference. But while these new women's movements 
have made no very appreciable progress in their 
direct propaganda, they have come into promi- 
nence through the newspapers and magazines which 
have given liberal discussion and criticism to their 
ideas. These ideas have been drawn largely from 
Suderman, Shaw, Ellen Key, Ibsen and kindred 



PROGRESS OF JAPANESE WOMAN Z7 

modern Western writers, and the public discussions 
of these writers have doubtless influenced educated 
people considerably. It is not so much for political 
enfranchisement that these progressive v/omen are 
asking as for participation in a larger social and 
intellectual life — a chance for development of per- 
sonality. Self-conscious expression appears to be 
the keynote to their demands. 

The most conspicuous of these organized groups 
of women is the "Blue Stocking Society" headed by 
Miss Hiratsuka. The ideas advanced by this or- 
ganization are somewhat similar to those advocated 
by the eighteenth century French writers. Some of 
the leaders have defied custom and dared to indulge 
openly in social liberties which are wholly antag- 
onistic to all the old accepted Japanese standards of 
womanhood. Consequently, the Blue Stocking group 
have stirred up no little adverse criticism and agita- 
tion against themselves and their propaganda. 

As a counter-irritant to the "Blue Stockings," the 
"True New Woman's Society," led by Mrs. Nishi- 
kawa, Mrs. Kimura, Mrs. Miyazaki and others, has 
sprung up. This body has been active both through 
the press and on the platform, though it has also 
been denounced and contemptuously criticized. 
However, its members appear to be thoroughly 
sane, well-balanced women, asking and aspiring for 
no more than are advanced Western women who 
are determined to have a fuller, larger share in the 
big things of life. These Japanese women are un- 



38 MODERN JAPAN 

willing to have woman remain subject to unreason- 
able customs and morals formulated entirely by 
man to suit his own convenience, thereby giving to 
the man freedom of conduct and action while the 
woman is kept in subjection to him. 



Ill 



But while there have arisen representative 
groups who have been brave enough to demand fuller 
emancipation and freedom for women, the great 
mass of the people are still unmoved and untouched 
by any ambitions for radical change of the old feu- 
dal-patriarchal standards. On the other hand, there 
are many who urge that the best and quickest medi- 
um for wedging in opportunity for woman is 
through the child. Japanese men will turn a deaf 
ear to a direct appeal for widened social and intel- 
lectual opportunity as such for women, but they are 
always open to conviction on possibilities for im- 
proved motherhood because these imply improved 
children and eventual race betterment. 

In fact, such opportunities of education as have 
been opened to women in Japan are motived by a 
desire to improve wifehood and motherhood, with 
little or no thought of mere personal or individual 
development. And while there are a few openings 
for a fairly liberal education for women, such open- 
ings are by no means commensurate with the other 
lines of advancement by the nation or with the 



PROGRESS OF JAPANESE WOMAN 39 

spread of similar opportunities for men. Yet pro- 
gressive Japanese are coming more and more to 
realize that in the wake of the breaking up of the 
old social and political ideals must eventually fol- 
low the passing of the old belated conventions con- 
cerning women and the family. 

As is commonly the case elsewhere among less 
conventionalized peoples, the women themselves are 
often most conservative, particularly the women of 
the upper classes, who are still almost exclusively 
ornamental and dependent, and live largely in Orien- 
tal aloofness and seclusion. To be sure, Japanese 
women have always been the least restricted among 
Oriental peoples, yet the education of the upper 
class of women has been and still is formal and orna- 
mental. It comprises the Chinese classics and poetic 
art, Japanese music, etiquette of arranging flowers, 
the tea ceremony, writing a beautiful hand, and 
flower painting. Besides this, education includes 
training in the etiquette of formal conduct, such 
as sitting down properly, the various forms of bow 
ing, serving tea, and so forth. All such instruction 
has value and significance, but one may become 
proficient in this sort of knowledge and still be hope- 
lessly ignorant of the larger, more vital things of 
life. 

Education among the lower classes is still very 
rudimentary, and traditional superstition still holds 
powerful sway over the people. In the rural 
districts where women Constitute a strong factor in 



40 MODERN JAPAN 

the direct economic life, that is, are engaged in such 
occupations as packing tea, raising the silk-worm, 
helping in the labor of agriculture or other produc- 
tive activity, they enjoy more social freedom and 
are less subject to their husbands. But v^^hile social 
equality is more nearly attained in the lower classes, 
as has always been the case, progress, innovations 
and non-conformity have been first developed among 
the middle class. Many educated Japanese men of 
this class have in theory accepted the abstract prin- 
ciple of equality for men and women, yet they have 
formulated the narrowest curriculum for women's 
education, clearly from the old patriarchal view- 
point that woman is essentially merely a medium for 
breeding and housekeeping. Most Japanese still 
find it impossible to think respectfully of women 
engaged in any social activity outside of the home. 
A most hopeful sign, however, lies in the fact that 
not only are the educated women of Japan dissatis- 
fied with conditions, but it is said that there is con- 
siderable unrest even among the masses of women 
to whom only a little opportunity has been given; 
that while Japanese women are masters at repress- 
ing their real feelings and are able always to appear 
meek, cheerful and amiable, there are, nevertheless, 
evidences on every hand of considerable dissatisfac- 
tion with their narrow, restricted lives. This is, of 
course, the first essential to progress. 

One prominent writer has said : "The tragedy of 
a Japanese woman's life is not in its amiableness. 



PROGRESS OF JAPANESE WOMAN 41 

This is its most attractive feature. But the pathos 
is in its dumbness, its narrow outlook, its voiceless 
uncomplaining submission. What is desirable is 
not something to take the place of amiable qualities 
but the docility of awakened, active, all-round char- 
acter and life." 

This probably expresses what the great mass of 
Japanese women down in their innermost souls have 
begun to feel. To be sure, the difficulties of social 
and family readjustment for Japanese women will 
be many and great. Imagine, for instance, a 
trained, scientifically educated woman trying to ful- 
fil the duties of wifehood and motherhood in an or- 
dinary Japanese household. Next to her obliga- 
tions to her husband are those to the will and 
teachings of the mother-in-law, who, in turn, is in 
duty bound to instruct her. Ordinarily this would 
mean that the children must be reared under the 
old and often harmful and superstitious standards 
of health, hygiene and morality which are apt to be 
entirely contrary to the teachings of modem science 
and reason. But young couples to-day are begin- 
ning to break away from the old system by having 
separate establishments when they can afford it. And 
again we are told that many families are now seek- 
ing to marry their daughters to the younger sons 
of families rather than to the eldest sons, although 
the position of the eldest son is of most importance 
and significance in the family. The reason for this 
is that the duties and obligations of the wives of 



42 MODERN JAPAN 

first sons are so heavy, and often burdensome, that 
parents prefer to have their daughters hold a sec- 
ondary position in the families into which they mar- 
ry rather than subject them to the heavy responsi- 
bilities of marriage with the eldest son or head of 
a family. 

A gifted widow of our acquaintance was appoint- 
ed guardian of her own children. This woman was 
educated, progressive and even radical in some of 
her convictions, yet she dared not in any open way 
express her opinions. Not only would such daring 
have reacted upon her own head but, as she ex- 
plained, it would have reacted also upon her children, 
spoiled her daughters' chances for favorable mar- 
riage, alienated her own and her husband's family, 
and social penalties would have been visited upon 
herself and upon all those closely connected with 
her. Consequently, this wise little woman cautiously 
checked her rebellious tendencies, though she had 
found secret methods of expression in writing un- 
signed articles and by translating articles expressing 
her views. 



IV 



Other beliefs common among the Japanese peo- 
ple are that widened social privileges for women 
increase immorality and that educated women make 
poor housewives. 

To the bird habituated to the cage and its de- 



PROGRESS OF JAPANESE WOMAN 43 

moralizing restrictions sudden liberty would almost 
certainly mean immediate or gradual destruction, 
and sudden unguided or unrestricted liberty would 
doubtless lead to a similar result among Japanese 
women. Parents, particularly mothers who have 
wished to let down the bars for their daughters, hav- 
ing no background of experience themselves, lose all 
perspective of what may or may not be ventured. 
Consequently, the result of giving liberties to young 
girls has in many cases been unsatisfactory and even 
disastrous. It is generally conceded that much clan^ 
destinism between young school boys and girls has 
resulted from the new and unadjusted freedom. 

Given a third of the social liberty which the 
American girl takes as a matter of course, the Jap- 
anese girl would fall an almost certain victim to 
moral disaster. It does not follow that the Jap- 
anese girl is inherently weaker or less moral than 
the American girl. The moral training of the 
American girl has been focused largely about sex 
morality — on watchfulness and resistance to the 
male. She is taught that the direst social penalties 
will be inflicted upon her who fails to be watchful. 

The moral teaching of the Japanese girl on the 
other hand centers about obedience and subserviency 
to the male. Until she is given over in marriage she 
has few contacts with the male outside of her own 
home, and society has as yet made almost no 
provision for such contacts. Naturally, clandestin- 
ism will result until a franker relationship between 



44 MODERN JAPAN 

the sexes is established and society arranges for 
more normal opportunities of communication and 
association. Before all else the Japanese woman 
will have to be taught how to use social liberty, and 
the Japanese man how to respect such liberty. The 
old domestic morality of obedience for women must 
be revised and re-leavened with resistance and self- 
assertion; and methods of co-operation and ccnor- 
dination with men must be taught in place of sub- 
serviency to them. 

As for educated women making poor housewives, 
it appears that a few years ago a wave of reaction- 
ary alarm was spread broadcast in Japan caused by 
the writings of an eminent German professor em- 
ployed at the Imperial University. It seems a pity 
that the Japanese should have been influenced by the 
German point of view on this subject, since the mass 
of German people are also belated on questions con- 
cerning women, are still wedded to the old standards 
of ^'Kinder, Kirche und Kochen/' and in problems 
of women's education have progressed little beyond 
the Japanese. 

To be sure, when one reflects upon how little wid- 
ened opportunity, so-called education, social inter- 
course, and independent action, has achieved for the 
Western women, particularly the American woman ; 
how lacking are many in stability, sense of obliga- 
tion to society and often even to their own families ; 
how pampered, frivolous and pettish are many, 
particularly of the comfortable class; how unques- 



PROGRESS OF JAPANESE WOMAN 45 

tionably superior, on the other hand, are the Japanese 
women in certain quahties that make for stabil- 
ity and character under their code of suppression 
and self-sacrifice, one is almost ready to question 
whether a reversion to suppression and subserviency 
would not be well for our women. And when one 
hears the oft-repeated question : "Are not Japanese 
women good, faithful, docile, patient and indus- 
trious; are they not loyal wives and devoted moth- 
ers, then why change, why disturb them?" one re- 
flects before answering. 

But widened privilege in the West is not responsi- 
ble for the great number of futile, restless women ; 
but rather social, economic and domestic conditions 
which still prevent the great mass of fairly well edu- 
cated women of the comfortable class from finding 
satisfactory self-expression and a worthy outlet for 
their ambitions and abilities. Consequently, we see 
scores of them running hopelessly amuck with orna- 
mental frivolities like dress, teas, cards and social 
dissipations of all sorts. But this is a problem 
quite apart from that of the present-day Japanese 
woman. 

V 

Progressive Japan, like the rest of the civilized 
world, is not so much in need of devoted mothers 
as of wise, trained and intelligent mothers; not so 
much in need of industrious housewives as of scien- 
tific, businesslike, household managers who know 



46 MODERN JAPAN 

the food values of fish, rice and potatoes and how 
to combine these food values so as to bring the best 
results in bone, muscle and bodily strength to the 
family. 

In traveling about Japan the casual observer is 
everywhere impressed with the vast number of chil- 
dren afflicted with sore eyes, scabby heads and, dur- 
ing the colder months, with almost continuously run- 
ning noses, which ultimately must breed catarrh, 
adenoids, and ear and throat affections of every va- 
riety. Indeed, one can scarcely imagine a more 
nauseating sight than a group of these otherwise 
charming children, almost every one with a running 
nose and no effort made to correct it, since children 
are taught never to snuff or to blow their noses in 
the presence of guests. There are admirers of the 
Japanese people who maintain that such neglect of 
the children is the worst blot upon their present- 
day civilization. Sidney and Beatrice Webb, in a 
very able and sympathetic study of modern condi- 
tions in Japan, testify in no sparing terms on this 
subject : 

"There is no general provision for the prevention 
and treatment of disease, and in spite of apparently 
endless charity on the part of the very poorly remu- 
nerated doctors, and various 'charity hospitals* (as 
they are called) the death-rate is half as much again 
as in England; with tuberculosis and infantile dis- 
orders fatally prevalent; and with the children 
growing up, untreated, with all sorts of eventually 
disabling complaints. 



PROGRESS OF JAPANESE WOMAN ^y 

"The amount of preventable disease, of unneces- 
sary disablement and of premature old age and death 
is costing Japan today more even than its gigantic 

naval expenditure or its war debt A 

large proportion of the children of Japan are suf- 
fering severely from the want of the necessaries of 
healthy child life. There is very little public pro- 
vision for orphans or abandoned children; in the 
absence of any supervision of child birth and in- 
fancy, the infantile death-rate (in spite of universal 
breast feeding) is very high, implying much infan- 
tile disease." 

Certain it is that the great body of Japanese chil- 
dren are not suffering from want or neglect, or lack 
of affection, but chiefly from poverty and from lack 
of trained, efficient motherhood which would doubt- 
less in a very large measure reduce these evils. 

Moreover, the education of the children during 
the most impressionable and absorbing period of 
their lives is almost entirely in the hands of the 
women. Many critics of Japan maintain that until 
the women of Japan are raised to a higher level of 
training and are permitted to share in and contrib- 
ute to the world of ideas and to aid in the solution 
of present-day social and domestic problems, the 
higher, social and ethical progress of the whole na- 
tion is bound to be retarded. 



CHAPTER V 

THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF JAPAN 



The modem educational system of Japan may be 
said to have been inaugurated in 1871 when the 
Mumbiisho or Department of Education was estab- 
lished. The year following a comprehensive ed- 
ucational code was promulgated. The keynote of 
the system had already been sounded in the last of 
the five articles of the famous Charter or Imperial 
Oath of 1869 which also promised deliberative as- 
semblies and government by public opinion. The 
articles provided: 

"Knowledge shall be sought for throughout the 
world, so that the welfare of the Empire may be 
promoted." 

The principles underlying this code of education 
are more important than the code itself, which has 
undergone frequent changes and revisions. These 
principles are thus set forth in the preamble: 

"It is intended that henceforth universally (with- 
out any distinction of class or sex), in a village 

48 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 49 

there shall he no hotcse without learning, and in a 
house no individual without learning. Fathers or 
elder brothers must take note of this intention," and 
bringing up their children or younger brothers with 
warm feeling of love must not fail to let them ac- 
quire learning. (As for higher learning, that de- 
pends upon the capacity of individuals.)"* 

It is characteristic of the Japanese that special 
emphasis is placed upon the utilitarian advantages 
of an education. 

"The only way in which an individual can raise 
himself, manage his property and prosper in his busi- 
ness and so accomplish his career, is by cultivating 
his morals, improving his intellect, and becoming 
proficient in arts; the cultivation of morals, the 
improvement of intellect and proficiency in arts can- 
not be attained except through learning. This is 

the reason why schools are established 

Every man only after learning diligently each ac- 
cording to his capacity will be able to increase his 
property and prosper in his business. Hence knowl- 
edge may be regarded as the capital for raising one's 
self; who then can do without learning? Those 
who wander about homeless, suffer from hunger, 
break up their houses, and ruin themselves, come to 
such a pass, because they are without learning." 

It can hardly be said that the educational system 
of Japan in its present form was fully established 
prior to the reforms of Mari Yurei, a Minister of 



From Kukuchi's translation in his Japanese Education, 
pages 68.69. 



50 MODERN JAPAN 

Education who issued a new or thoroughly revised 
code of education in 1886. In 1890 there was is- 
sued the famous Imperial Rescript on Education 
which may be said to form the basis of Japanese 
education, at least in its moral and political aspects. 
This document, being a sort of Japanese Bible, is 
of such interest and importance that no apology is 
needed for its insertion in full: 

"Know ye, Our subjects: 

"Our Imperial Ancestors have founded Our Em- 
pire on a basis broad and everlasting, and have 
deeply and firmly implanted virtue; Our subjects 
ever united in loyalty and filial piety, have from 
generation to generation illustrated the beauty there- 
of. This is the glory of the fundamental character 
of Our Empire, and herein also lies the source of 
Our education. Ye, Our subjects, be filial to your 
parents, affectionate to your brothers and sisters; 
as husbands and wives be harmonious, as friends 
true; bear yourselves in modesty and moderation; 
extend your benevolence to all ; pursue learning and 
cultivate arts, and thereby develop intellectual fac- 
ulties and perfect moral powers; furthermore, ad- 
vance public good and promote common interests; 
always respect the Constitution and observe the 
laws; should emergency arise, offer yourselves 
courageously to the State ; and thus guard and main- 
tain the prosperity of our Imperial Throne coeval 
with heaven and earth. So shall ye not only be Our 
good and faithful subjects, but render illustrious 
the best traditions of your forefathers. 

"The Way here set forth is indeed the teaching 
bequeathed by Our Imperial Ancestors, to be ob- 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 51 

served alike by Their Descendants and the subjects, 
infallible for all ages and true in all places. ,It is 
Our wish to lay it to heart in all reverence, in com- 
mon with you, Our subjects, that we may all attain 
to the same virtue." 

In commenting upon this Rescript, Baron Ku- 
kuchi says: "Our whole moral and civic educa- 
tion consists in so imbuing our children with the 
spirit of the Rescript that it forms a part of our 
national life." He also tells us : *'A copy of this 
Rescript is distributed from the Department of Ed- 
ucation to every school in the Empire, whether 
governmental, public, or private, of any grade 
whatsoever; those given to governmental schools 
are actually signed by the Emperor." 

The Rescript is essentially Confucian in its con- 
tent and teaching. Loyalty to the Emperor, which in- 
cludes patriotism to the country and filial piety, are 
emphasized as the two cardinal virtues. Portraits 
of the Emperor and Empress are distributed to ev- 
ery school, and these and a copy of the Rescript are 
kept in a special place; and on public occasions the 
same respect must be paid to these portraits as if 
their Majesties themselves were present in person ; in 
other words, they are actually worshipped. Thus it 
will be seen that the Imperial Rescript in a very real 
sense forms the basis of the religion as well as the 
education of the Japanese nation, and must neces- 
sarily influence tremendously the national, educa- 
tional and ethical outlook of the entire people. 



52 MODERN JAPAN 



II 



Education in Japan is entirely under the control 
or supervision of the Government. The adminis- 
tration is determined by Imperial ordinance rather 
than by laws submitted to the Diet. The agencies 
of control are of two kinds — central and local. The 
central agency is the Department of Education head- 
ed by the Minister who sits in the Cabinet. There 
is also a higher Council of Education with merely 
advisory but important powers. For purposes of 
control, the whole country is divided into seven ad- 
ministrative divisions, with an inspector for each 
division. 

For administrative purposes (including educa- 
tion), Japan proper is divided into three Fu and 
forty-three Ken,'^ whose governorsf or prefects have 
charge of matters educational in their respective 
provinces or prefectures. Each prefecture, exclusive 
of the Shi or cities, is subdivided into Gun or sub- 
prefectures. Alongside the sub-prefectures are the 
Shi (cities or towns), and underneath the sub-prefec- 
tures are the Cho and Son (villages) . These various 



*The distinction between a fu and ken is one of name only. 

fThese officers are appointed by the Emperor on the 
recommendation of the Cabinet. Like the French prefects 
of whom they are a copy, they serve in a double capacity 
as State officials charged with a part of the general adminis- 
tration of the State, and as local representatives or heads of 
the prefectural administration and interests. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 53 

units or bodies have elected assemblies with certain 
powers of self-government. Subject to the control, 
supervision and inspection of the Central Govern- 
ment, they exercise certain rights, privileges and 
duties in connection with the schools. Thus there 
are schools and colleges established and maintained 
by the prefectures and (in fewer number) even by 
the sub-prefectures. But the expense of elementary 
schools is for the most part borne by cities, towns or 
villages or by unions of these. This naturally in- 
volves a certain amount of local control. Some 
higher and special schools are directly maintained 
and controlled by the Central Government, while a 
number of private schools are under more or less 
government supervision. 

The public schools of Japan are supported by 
taxation, endowments and tuition fees. Tuition 
fees were charged in all schools until the year 1900 
when, in accordance with the principle of obligatory 
attendance then introduced, it was ordered that ele- 
mentary education should be free wherever possi- 
ble. By 1906 only about five per cent, of the ordi- 
nary elementary schools collected slight fees from 
less than ten per cent, of the pupils of these schools.* 
In the higher elementary schools tuition fees are 
still collected In the majority of cases. In middle 
schools they are the rule rather than the exception. 

*Kukuchi, Japanese Education, page 145. About the szwne 
percentages still held in 1910-11. See table in 38th Annual Re- 
port of the Minister of Education, page 75. 



54 MODERN JAPAN 

Attempts to create endowment funds for school 
purposes have not been very successful in Japan. 
Such funds have been created by local governments 
in some instances and there is a fund of several mil- 
lion dollars for additional allowances to common 
school-teachers. But the main endowment has been 
the Educational Stock Fund which was created in 
1899 ^y setting apart for educational purposes the 
sum of ten million yen or five million dollars out 
of the Chinese indemnity. This fund was unfor- 
tunately appropriated by the War Chest during the 
Russo-Japanese War, though since 1900-01 there 
is a National Education Fund, consisting of con- 
tributions from both the treasury and the provinces, 
created as supplementary to the Stock Fund. The 
total amount of this fund in 1911-12 was $1,689,937 
of which over $1,000,000 was granted as loans to 
cities, towns and villages. 

Japan probably spends less money for educational 
purposes than any country in the world having an 
efficient school system. The total expenditure for 
public schools paid out by provincial and com- 
munal treasuries in 1911-12 was almost $40,000,000 
of which nearly three- fourths or $29,000,000 went 
to the support of common schools. The total 
amount expended by the Department of Education 
in 1910-11 was $4,500,000. The two main items 
in this expenditure were $750,000 for general edu- 
cation and $2,434,814 for the Imperial universities 
and other institutions. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 55 

III 

There are three main grades or kinds of prihiary 
and secondary schools in Japan: the elementary, 
middle and high schools. 

At the base of the educational system are the 
elementary schools. The purpose of these is de- 
scribed in the Imperial Ordinance of 1900: 

"Elementary schools are expected to give chil- 
dren the rudiments of moral education and of civic 
education,"^ together with such general knowledge 
and skill as are necessary for life, while due atten- 
tion is paid to their bodily development." 

Elementary schools are divided into ordinary and 
higher elementary schools, though the two may be 
combined into one school. Since 1907 the course 
of an ordinary elementary school extends over six 
years and is compulsory. The main subjects taught 
in the schools during the first four years are morals, 
language, arithmetic and gymnastics ; to which may 
be added drawing, singing and manual work and 
sewing for girls. In recent years geography and 
science were added, as well as military drill for boys. 

The higher elementary schools (which are not 
compulsory) are for those children who, having 
completed the course of six years, wish to receive 



*By civic education is meant "education specially adapted 
to make the child a good subject of the Emperor and a useful 
member of the community." — Kukuchi, page 115. 



56 MODERN JAPAN 

a higher general education, though not intending 
to enter the middle school for boys or a high school 
for girls. The course of these higher elementary 
schools usually extends over two years, though it 
may be extended to three or even four years. The 
subjects taught are morals, language, arithmetic, 
Japanese history, geography, science, drawing, 
singing and gymnastics, with sewing for girls and 
military drill for boys. To these may be added 
manual work, agriculture or commerce for boys, 
and manual work for girls. Provision may also 
be made for teaching English. 

After a Japanese boy has completed the six years 
compulsory course of an ordinary elementary school, 
he may leave school altogether, continue his studies 
in a higher elementary school or enter a middle 
school (theoretically, at least), or certain local agri- 
cultural, commercial or apprentice schools. If he 
has completed two years of the higher elementary 
course, he may possibly enter a normal school or 
one of the considerable number of the city agricul- 
tural, industrial or commercial schools provided by 
a ken or city. 

As stated in an Imperial ordinance, the object of 
middle schools is "to give a higher general educa- 
tion necessary for men," or, as explained by a lead- 
ing authority,* "a general education or liberal cul- 
ture necessary for those who are to be of middle or 



*Baron Kukuchi, op. cit., page 205. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 57 

higher social standing." But really the middle 
school is used mainly by those who are desirous 
of obtaining the instruction needed for entering a 
college or university. So they have largely become 
mere preparatory schools. 

The course of a middle school, which corresponds 
to our high school, extends over five years. The 
subjects taught are morals, the Japanese language 
and Chinese classics, one of three foreign languages 
(English, French or German), history, geography, 
mathematics, natural history, physics and chemistry, 
law and economics, drawing, singing and gymnas- 
tics.* Most emphasis is placed upon the Japanese 
and foreign languages. Of the foreign languages, 
English is almost exclusively taught, though the 
results are far from satisfactory. 

After her completion of the six yearS' compulsory 
course in the ordinary elementary school, the aver- 
age Japanese girl has comparatively little opportu- 
nity for further study. During recent years, how- 
ever, great progress has been made in providing for 
girls the means of secondary education. There are 
now a considerable number of so-called high schoolsf 
and normal schools for girls, and of other institu- 

*Foreign languages or history and geography may be sub- 
stituted for law and economics, and drawing for singing. 

fit is gratifying to note that the number of public and 
private high schools for girls increased from 192 in 1910-11 
to 297 in 1912-13. The number of pupils increased from 
55,882 to 74,316. The number of graduates in 1912-13 was 
16,396. See Japan Year Book for 1915, page 258. 



58 MODERN JAPAN 

tions which offer better opportunities for technical, 
professional and industrial training. 

The object of high schools for girls, as stated in 
an Imperial ordinance, is "to give higher general 
education necessary for women;" or, as explained 
by Baron Kukuchi,* "general education and culture 
necessary for those who are to be of middle or 
higher social standing." The course usually ex- 
tends over four years, though a fifth year may be 
added. The subjects taught are the inevitable 
morals, the Japanese language, a foreign language 
(either English or French), history and geography, 
mathematics, science, drawing, domestic manage- 
ment, sewing, music and gymnastics."f 

If the Japanese youth who has completed his five- 
year course in the middle school desires to enter an 
Imperial university, he attempts to secure admission 
to one of the eight high schools provided for this 
purpose. Or if he has had the necessary training, 
he may enter a higher normal school or prepare for 
an industrial or professional career at one of the 
higher technical schools, a college of commerce, a 



*0/'. cit., page 273. 

fForeign language may be omitted or made optional, while 
drawing and music may be dispensed with entirely. Educa- 
tion and manual work or any subject approved by the local 
authorities may be added, provided the hours of instruction 
are not increased more than six hours per week. In con- 
nection with morals, special attention is paid to deportment 
and manners; in domestic management, to nursing and the 
care of the aged and of children. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 59 

medical college or such an institution as the Sapporo 
Agricultural College. For the young Japanese wom- 
en there are few such opportunities. 

The high schools ( formerly known as high middle 
schools) Avere originally designed to give special 
or professional education, as well as preparatory in- 
struction necessary for entering the universities; 
but their primary purpose seems to have been lost 
sight of, and they are now almost wholly used as 
institutions or colleges preparatory to a university 
career. There are eight such high schools main- 
tained by the Government. These schools have each 
three sections or departments, the 'course in all 
cases extending over three years. The first section 
is for those wishing to enter the college (in the 
university) of law or literature; the second is for 
those intending to enter the college of science, en- 
gineering or agriculture; the third for those wish- 
ing to enter the college of medicine. In the first 
section emphasis is naturally placed upon such sub- 
jects as logic, elementary law and elementary poli- 
tical economy ; in the second and third sections upon 
mathematics and the appropriate sciences. In all 
sections are taught ethics, Japanese language and 
gymnastics, and until recently (1911) two of the 
three leading Western languages were required.* 



*The IpJiguages usually studied are English, French and 
German. In some fields, as in medicine, German is required. 
In 191 1 it was arranged to make one language compulsory 
and the other optional. 



6o MODERN JAPAN 

IV 

There is in Japan a very ample* provision of 
normal schools designed to train teachers. They 
are divided into ordinary and higher normal schools 
>vith separate schools or classes for either sex. 

The course of study in the ordinary normal 
school extends over four yearsf in the case of 
male and three years in the case of female pupils, 
usually preceded by one year's preparatory course. 
Those eligible for admission have completed the 
second year of a higher elementary school or its 
equivalent. The subjects taught are pretty much 
the same as in the middle schools with the addition 
of pedagogy (theory and practice). 

Applicants for admission to a Japanese normal 
school must be of good moral character and have a 
strong healthy physique. To this end they are sub- 
jected to a strict medical examination and a most 
searching inquiry. The regulations prescribe that 
those admitted shall be furnished writh the cost of 
their board and clothing, while tuition is free. The 



*Each prefecture is obliged to maintain at least one 
normal school with an elementary school attached. Since 
1897 the Government has encouraged the establishment of 
at least two schools, one each for male and female pupils. 
In 1907 there were 69 normal schools, of which 27 were for 
male and 19 for female pupils, while there were 23 schools 
for both sexes. 

fThere is also provision for a one-year course for grad- 
uates of middle schools or of girls' high schools. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 6i 

students are lodged in dormitories and subject to 
strict discipline. A special effort is made to incul- 
cate a spirit of loyalty and patriotism. In return 
for these privileges they are required after gradua- 
tion to serve for a certain period as elementary 
school-teachers in the locality in which they grad- 
uated. 

In addition to the ordinary normal schools there 
are at Tokyo and Hiroshima two higher normal 
schools which train male teachers for normal 
schools, middle schools and high schools for girls; 
also two higher normal schools for girls in Tokyo 
and Nara. 

Of late years, more especially since the Russo- 
Japanese War, there has been in Japan a tremen- 
dous impetus in the direction of technical, industrial 
and professional education. There are now many 
technical, agricultural and commercial schools, pri- 
mary and secondary grades, including numerous sup- 
plementary technical schools, as also a number of 
special technical schools or colleges. Among these 
may be especially noted the Marioka higher school 
of Agriculture and Forestry, the five higher com- 
mercial schools at Tokyo, Kobe and elsewhere, seven 
higher technical schools, the Tokyo Fishery Insti- 
tute, the Mining School at Akita, the Sericulture 
School at Uyeda, six special schools of medicine, 
the Tokyo Foreign Language School, the Tokyo 
Fine Art Academy and the Tokyo Academy of 
Music. 



62 MODERN JAPAN 



y 



At the head of the public educational system of 
Japan are the four Imperial universities. 

First in rank and importance is the Imperial 
University of Tokyo consisting of a university hall 
and six colleges, viz. : law, medicine, engineering, 
literature, science and agriculture. These last are 
not colleges in either the English or American 
sense. They rather correspond to the German fac- 
ulties of philosophy, jurisprudence, medicine and 
theology. The university hall is a post-graduate 
institution designed for purposes of research. At 
the end of five years post-graduate students who 
have presented a satisfactory thesis receive the de- 
gree of Hakushi (Doctor). 

The college of law has by far the greatest num- 
ber of students.* It is divided into three sections — \ 
law, politics and economics ; the subjects of study in 
each section being divided into compulsory and elec- 
tive. The course of study for law has recently been 
reduced from four to three years. At the same 
time the privilege which university graduates for- 
merly enjoyed of entering the bench or bar on 
diploma was withdrawn. 

*Out of 5,240 students enrolled in December, 1913, 2,422 
were registered in the college of law; 846 in that of medicine; 
663 in engineering; 414 in literature; 158 in science; and 74O 
in agriculture. There were 271 post-graduate students in 
university hall. See Japan Year Book for 1915, pages 261- 
262. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 63 

In the college of medicine there are two sec- 
tions — medicine and pharmacy, with courses of four 
and three years respectively. The college of en- 
gineering has nine sections with three-year courses. 
In the college of literature there are three sections 
— philosophy, history and literature, each with a 
course of three years. 

The Imperial University of Kyoto is similarly or- 
ganized except that there are only four colleges, 
namely, of law, medicine, literature, and science and 
engineering. 

The Imperial University of Tohoku at Sendai 
(estabhshed in 1901) has a college of science, a 
school of agriculture (at Sapporo), a medical 
course and an English course. It distinguished it- 
self from the others (in 1913) by admitting three 
women to a special course by examination — sl nota- 
ble and promising innovation in the history of the 
higher education of Japanese women. 

The Imperial University of Kyushu at Fukuoka 
(established in 19 10) consists thus far of but two 
colleges, namely, of medicine and engineering. 

For the maintenance of the universities of Tokyo 
and Kyoto the Government makes an annual appro- 
priation of about six hundred and fifty thousand 
dollars and five hundred thousand dollars respec- 
tively. The presidents are appointed by the Em- 
peror on the recommendation of the Cabinet. At 
the head of each college is a director appointed from 
among the professors by the Minister of Education. 



64 MODERN JAPAN 

The supreme deliberative body of the university is 
the senate presided over by the president and consist- 
ing of the directors and a professor from each college 
chosen by his colleagues. In each college there is 
a faculty meeting presided over by the director. But 
the senate and faculty meetings are mere advisory 
bodies, the final decision and responsibility resting 
with the directors, the president or the Minister of 
Education. 

Professors are appointed by the Emperor on the 
recommendation of the Minister of Education, 
though the initiative in respect to appointment or 
promotion is taken by the president after consulting 
the faculty. That the system does not always work 
without friction is shown by the crisis at Kyoto 
University in 19 14. In consequence of the arbi- 
trary dismissal of seven professors by the president, 
a number of professors of the law college, who 
claimed the right of being consulted in the matter 
of appointments and dismissals, resigned. The dif- 
ficulty appears to have been adjusted by an under- 
standing that the faculty should be taken into the 
confidence of the president with regard to such 
matters. The Japan Mail called this an "uncondi-* 
tional surrender" on the part of the professors. 

In engaging foreign professors, who were for- 
merly in the majority, the consent of the Diet is nec- 
essary. But the services of foreign scholars have 
been gradually dispensed with until there are now 
only about a dozen left in the University of Tokyo. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 65 

VI 

In addition to the public schools of Japan, there 
^re a considerable number of private institutions. 
These are mainly mission schools, the missionaries 
having been pioneers in the field of education in 
Japan. 

Among private institutions for higher education, 
the most important are unquestionably the Keio- 
gijuku, Waseda and Doshisha Universities. These 
and other similar institutions are largely reser- 
voirs for students failing to enter the Imperial Uni- 
versity or not prepared to do so. 

The Keio-gijuku in Tokyo was founded as early 
as 1895 by the famous Fukuzawa, sometimes re- 
ferred to as the Benjamin Franklin of Japan, a 
great educator, scholar and philosopher on Western 
lines, who contributed much to the awakening of 
modem Japan. The university proper is divided 
into four departments, namely, of economics, law, 
political science and literature. In accordance with 
the moral code of its illustrious founder, a special 
attempt is made to inculcate a sense of independence 
and self-respect — virtues, so it is claimed by many 
Japanese critics, too much neglected in the public 
and government schools. Keio University boasts 
of five thousand graduates, and in 191 2 there w^ere 
enrolled in the university department 2,492 students. 

Waseda University was founded at Tokyo in 1882 
by Count Okuma to encourage freedom of inves- 



66 MODERN JAPAN 

tigation and "provide young men with an easy 
means of attaining advanced knowledge." The 
university department comprises colleges of politics 
and economics, literature, commerce, and science and 
engineering. The institution boasts of over ten 
thousand graduates and a total enrollment of 6,622 
students in 19 13, of whom 2,035 were registered in 
the various colleges, 500 in the academies, 358 in the 
higher normal school and 2,313 in the higher pre- 
paratory school. 

The above institutions, it is claimed, are especial- 
ly adapted to the training of public spirited and in- 
dependent citizens, free from governmental and 
bureaucratic influences so fatal to initiative, origin- 
ality and progress. 

The Doshisha University was founded at Kyoto 
in 1875 nnder Qiristian auspices by the celebrated 
educator Dr. Nishima. It comprises academic, col- 
legiate and theological departments in addition to a 
girls' school. It claims eighteen hundred alumni 
and an enrollment of 840 students. This school is 
largely indebted to the United States both for 
teachers and financial support, and is acknowledged 
to be one of the best institutions in Japan. 

Another promising institution is the Meiji Sem- 
mon Gakko founded in Kiushiu in 1909 by Mr. 
Yasukawa who furnished an endowment of $1,650,- 
000 — the most notable instance of a private endow- 
ment of an educational institution in Japan. Courses 
extending over four years are provided in mining, 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 67 

metallurgy, mechanical and electrical engineering 
and applied chemistry. 

Except for the two higher normal schools for 
girls at Tokyo and Nara, the Japanese Government 
has failed to make any provision for the higher 
education of women. Since 1900 Miss Tsuda has 
conducted an excellent higher school for girls in 
Tokyo called the Women's English Institute. It 
admits to its three years' course only those possess- 
ing scholarship equal to that of graduates of a 
girls' high scliool. In 19 14 it had 146 students and 
163 alumni. 

More important and promising for the future is 
the so-called Japanese Women's University founded 
in 1 90 1 at Tokyo by Mr. Naruse, who believes that 
the education of women should be guided by three 
principles. They shall be educated (i) as human 
beings, (2) as women and (3) as members of the 
community. To this end emphasis is placed upon 
the three principles of ( i ) self-activity or self-help, 
(2) the psycho-physical principle or co-operation 
between soul and body and (3) the socio-individual- 
istic principle of the relation between society and 
the individual. Self-respect and service are be- 
lieved to be the most important special female vir- 
tures for the development of which the founder has 
instituted various organizations for self-training 
and self-government, such as moral tendency, ex- 
periment study, health, order, economy, cooking, 
committees and the cherry-maple associations. 



68 MODERN JAPAN 

Three-year courses in domestic science, litera- 
ture, English and education are provided to which 
students are admitted who have had the equivalent 
of a five years' course in a girls' high school. Besides 
the attached schools, there is also to be a three years' 
post-graduate course, and the university is looking 
forward to the establishment of medical, musical, 
fine arts and other departments. It is admitted that 
the standards are not sufficiently high to merit the 
name of university, but it is hoped that these may be 
gradually raised as conditions permit. In 19 12 the 
Women's University had 1,277 graduates, and a 
total of 529 students in the university proper. 



VII 



In viewing the Japanese educational system as a 
whole, it will be noted that the Japanese do not be- 
lieve in co-education. They do not object to it in 
the elementary schools where boys and girls are usu- 
ally taught in the same schools and often in the 
some classes, though even here they are separated 
whenever practicable. This is due to the old estab- 
lished custom of bringing up the sexes separately. 

Even primary education is not wholly free and is 
only compulsory for six years, though it extends to 
both sexes. During these years there is a very high 
percentage of attendance, but there is some reason 
for thinking that, owing to the method of computa- 
tion, Japanese statistics on this head are not wholly 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 69 

reliable. According to the statistics furnished by 
the Department of Education, the ratio of attend- 
ance in 1912-13 was 98.80 per cent, for boys and 
97.62 per cent, for girls, an average of 98.23 per 
cent. There were 25,673 elementary schools, with 
7,037,430 pupils and 158,601 teachers — ^an average 
of about 45 pupils to one teacher.* The majority of 
teachers (five-sevenths) are men, though the num- 
ber of women teachers is constantly increasing. 

The salaries of teachers in elementary schools 
range from four or five dollars to twenty-five or 
thirty-five dollars per month. The minimum as 
fixed by the law of 1907 is five dollars for men and 
four dollars for women. The average in 1911-12 
was a trifle over nine dollars. In criticizing these 
wages, account should of course be taken of the low 
cost of living in Japan, but the salaries, nevertheless, 
seem pitifully small. Some compensation may per- 
haps be found in the good social position and pres- 
tige of members of the teaching profession among a 
deferential people, and in a pension system which 
grants a retiring allowance ranging from one-fourth 
to one-half the regular salary after a service of from 
fifteen to forty years. 

The Japanese school boy or girl has longer hours 
and shorter vacations than the American child. 
Summer vacation is much shorter, usually lasting 



♦For criticism of these figures see Pieters in the Christian 

Movement in Japan for 1906, page 57. 



70 MODERN JAPAN 

only four or five weeks in July and August; and, 
though there is no school on Sundays, Saturday is 
a school day in Japan, and the number of holidays, 
exclusive of Sundays, must not exceed ninety in any 
one year. The number of school days each year is 
therefore between 220 and 240 as compared with 
about 147 in the United States. The number of 
hours per diem is also probably greater. In ele- 
mentary schools it ranges from twenty-one to thirty 
hours per week. In the secondary schools and tech- 
nical schools it is often still greater. 

In consequence of certain abuses and scandals 
which had arisen in connection with the use of text- 
books, the rules regulating their compilation and 
adoption were revised by Imperial ordinance in 
1903. According to these new rules all readers and 
elementary text-books on morals, Japanese history 
and geography must be uniform and copyrighted by 
the Department of Education. All other text-books 
used in elementary schools must be approved by the 
Department or compiled under its direction. The 
publication and sale of these texts is subject to the 
strictest supervision and control. The result has 
been a great reduction in the price of these books, 
amounting in some cases to as much as seventy per 
cent., and great improvement in their quality, at least 
as regards binding and paper. On the other hand, 
such control does not permit any questioning of 
certain old traditions which the more enlightened 
public can no longer accept as facts. 



4 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 



VIII 

Perhaps the most unique and interesting feature 
of Japanese education is its insistence on the teach- 
ing of morals and patriotism in all primary and sec- 
ondary schools. In the departmental regulations 
governing elementary education, the following direc- 
tions are given v^ith reference to morals : 

"The teaching of Morals must be based on the 
Imperial Rescript on Education, and its aim should 
be to cultivate the moral nature of children and 
to guide them in practice of virtues. 

*'In the ordinary elementary course, easy precepts 
appropriate for practice concerning such virtues as 
filial piety and obedience to elders, affection and 
friendship, frugality and industry, modesty, fidelity, 
courage, etc., should be given, and then some of the 
duties towards the State and society, with a view 
to elevate their moral character, strengthen their 
will, increase their spirit of enterprise, make them 
value public virtues and foster the spirit of loyalty 
and patriotism. 

"In the higher elementary course, the above must 
be further extended and the training given made 
still more solid. 

"In the teaching of girls, special stress must be 
laid on the virtues of chastity and modesty. 

"Encouragement and admonition should be given 
by means of wise sayings and proverbs and by tales 
of good deeds, so that children may lay them to 
heart."* 



*Kuktichi, Japanese Education, page 150; cf., pages 217 if. 



'J2 MODERN JAPAN 

In all the elementary schools, as also in the girls' 
high schools, two hours per week are devoted to 
this subject and one hour in the middle schools. 
Normal school students receive from one to two 
hours' instruction in ethics. In the elementary 
schools at least, a great effort is made to present the 
subject in as attractive and concrete a way as possi- 
ble.* Thus the first lesson deals with "The 
School." There follow lessons on such subjects, 
as "The Teacher," "Punctuality," "Be Studious," 
"Play," "Father and Mother," "Friends," "His Ma- 
jesty," "The Body," "Manners," "Neighbors," 
"Good Children," "Honesty" (illustrated by Wash- 
ington and the cherry tree), "Loyalty" and "Good 
Japanese." 

There is, however, much dissatisfaction with the 
results of this boasted system of moral instruction. 
Some complain that the teachers, having lost faith 
in the old system of Confucian ethics, are unable to 
teach, by precept or example, a living morality. 
Others find fault with the method. They say that 
moral instruction should permeate all teaching and 
not be relegated to special hours. The missionaries 
criticize the attempt to separate morality and reli- 
gion and the effort to secularize moral education. 
One critic says: "The moral teaching does little 



*The interested reader will find the whole system of ele- 
mentary education in morals amply treated in Kukuchi, 
chapter ii. For the teaching of morals in the middle schools, 
see Ihid, chapter i6. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 73 

good. The teachers do not command respect." 
Some point to the laxity of sexual and commercial 
relations in Japan as evidence of the failure oi the 
system. 

By way of partial reply to some of the above 
criticisms, it might be urged that apparently there is 
little stress laid in this teaching upon sexual moral- 
ity (except for women), and that the Japanese are 
making a real and sincere effort to cure their com- 
mercial vices. In one respect at least the system 
appears to be successful. It does succeed in incul- 
cating a spirit of loyalty, obedience and national 
patriotism which is unexcelled, except perhaps in 
Germany. To be sure, this spirit may have the de- 
fects of its virtues and may be dangerous in its ulti- 
mate efforts both upon Japan and the rest of the 
world, as in the case of Germany. It may raise more 
demons than it can exorcise. Of real political edu- 
cation or practical training for the higher duties of 
citizenship, there is very little evidence. 

One of the most serious defects of the Japanese 
educational system is the inadequacy of financial 
support and the failure to make ample provision 
for secondary and higher education or to provide 
sufficient accommodations for the aspiring youth of 
Japan. Dr. Nitobe remarks on this head :* 

"I believe there is nothing that chills the genial 

current of the youthful soul more than the inade- 

*The Japanese Nation, page 190. 



74 MODERN JAPAN 

quate number of collegiate institutions in our coun- 
try. Thousands of young men in the most ardent 
and aspiring period of life feel the very door of hope 

slammed in their face It hurts me to 

confess how sadly our Government fails to meet 
the educational demands of young Japan." 

Though theoretically all boys who have completed 
the ordinary elementary course are qualified to enter 
a middle school, the accommodations in these schools 
are so Hmited that competitive examinations are 
necessary at most schools, resulting in the rejection 
of nearly forty per cent, of the applicants. The num- 
ber of such schools is also insufficient. In 1911-12 
there were but three hundred and twelve public and 
private middle schools with nearly six thousand in- 
structors and almost one hundred and twenty-five 
thousand pupils. The case is even worse in the 
high schools (university preparatory), normal 
schools. Imperial universities and government tech- 
nical and professional schools, where the rejections 
run from sixty-five to eighty-five per cent. Indeed, 
it might be said that some of the single states of 
the American Union compare favorably with the 
Japanese Empire in making provision for secondary 
and higher education. 

Perhaps no comments upon Japanese education 
have aroused so much interest and controversy as 
Dr. Eliot's* criticism of the system as being too 

*See Eliot, Some Roads Towards Peace, published by the 
Carnegie Peace Endowment (1914), page 50. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 75 

uniform and stereotyped. Some of the Japanese 
critics are disposed to admit the justice of this 
criticism, while others either deny or justify the 
conditions which prevail. 

There can be little question of the justice of Dr. 
Eliot's criticism in so far as the secondary schools 
are concerned. The system is too rigid and me- 
chanical, the curriculum is too crowded, the teach- 
ers and pupils are overtaxed, the knowledge taught 
and acquired is often superficial, there is too much 
cramming for needless examinations, and the teach- 
ers are frequently untrained and inexperienced. The 
Imperial universities especially are sometimes des- 
ignated as official factories for the training of 
bureaucratic officials, and there is much dissatisfac- 
tion with the lack of initiative and fondness for 
abstract theories which are said to characterize prc^- 
fessors and students alike at these institutions, ten- 
dencies encouraged, it is said, by the Miimhiisho or 
Department of Education. In short, it would seem 
that in Japan, as elsewhere, and especially in Amer- 
ica, mere instruction has been mistaken for educa- 
tion, with the result that growth is often impeded 
rather than developed by the system. The product 
tends toward uniformity, mediocrity and superfici- 
ality. The individual is adapted to the system rather 
than the system to the individual. Intellectual initia- 
tive and independent thinking are not common and 
not encouraged. Utilitarian ideals prevail and ab- 
sorb most of the trained energy of the nation. 



y(y MODERN JAPAN 

IX 

One of the main impediments to real educational 
progress in Japan is the use of Chinese ideographs 
to represent sounds as well as words in the kana 
of the Japanese alphabet, and the adoption of Chi- 
nese words and Chinese ideographs into the Japa- 
nese language. A Japanese scholar is supposed to 
be familiar with some six thousand out of nearly 
fifty thousand Chinese characters, of which about 
three thousand are commonly used and one thousand 
three hundred and sixty may be employed in the 
elementary schools. This involves a knowledge of 
possibly several distinct sounds and different mean- 
ings in the case of each character and the ability to 
write them in several styles. Chinese literature 
forms an almost integral part of Japanese literature, 
and consequently the study of the Chinese classics is 
deemed an essential part of the education of a Japa- 
nese student just as Latin and Greek were formerly 
considered a necessary part of the education of a 
Western scholar or gentleman. 

Some twenty-five years ago two associations were 
formed — one for the exclusive use of Japanese kana, 
and the other for the introduction of Roman let- 
ters; but, being in advance of their time, they grad- 
ually declined and finally disappeared. More re- 
cently a new association has been formed for the 
purpose of substituting Roman letters for the kana 
as well as for Chinese ideographs. This movement 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM r? 

promises to be more successful, but the pathway to 
this desirable and, it would seem, almost necessary 
reform, will probably prove long and difficult; for 
there are a vast number of stupid conservatives in 
Japan as well as in other countries. 

The difficulties of acquiring a reading and writ- 
ing knowledge of the Japanese language, not to 
speak of Chinese ideographs, are so great that a 
study of their school statistics would make the Jap- 
anese appear to be much more literate than they 
really are. It is said that at the most only about 
fifty per cent, of the Japanese, having received an 
ordinary elementary education, could possibly read a 
simple religious tract or newspaper in their own lan- 
guage, and that comparatively few could read a po- 
litical pamphlet or editorial. Many have lost their 
former ability to read. A graduate of a middle 
school eighteen years of age has not, it is said, mas- 
tered Japanese sufficiently well to be able to under- 
stand an essay or leading article. 

In their intense pursuit of practical and abstract 
knowledge Japanese educators for a time neglected 
the needs of the body. But this defect has been 
largely remedied, and gymnastics form an impor- 
tant part of the curriculum in all elementary and 
secondary schools. English and American games, 
such as lawn tennis, boating, baseball and even foot- 
ball, are becoming increasingly popular. The nu- 
merous excursions for mixed purposes of pleasure, 
exercise and knowledge, which are undertaken un- 



78 MODERN JAPAN 

der the guidance of the instructors, form a pleasing 
and prominent feature of Japanese school life. 

One very pronounced aspect of Japanese educa- 
tion is its utilitarian and increasingly practical or 
vocational character. As in the United States, edu- 
cation is commonly regarded as a means rather than 
as an end and, while idealistic and altruistic aims 
are not wholly lacking, even more than in America 
the prevailing purpose appears to be a desire to get 
on in the world, to acquire wealth, fame or position, 
and to succeed or gain substantial rewards in the 
struggle for existence. 

But it must be admitted that in spite of disadvan- 
tages and many drawbacks, such as poverty and 
inexperience, the educational progress of the Japa- 
nese has been most remarkable. The Japanese youth 
is extremely aspiring, energetic and ambitious, and 
he is usually determined to make the best of his 
opportunities. Indeed, he frequently overworks and 
succumbs in the fierce competition for entrance to 
the secondary schools or universities. His teach- 
ers, however untrained and ill qualified for their 
task, are usually devoted and self-sacrificing to an 
extraordinary degree. For example, many univer- 
sity professors devote a considerable proportion of 
their meager salaries to the lodging and "entertain- 
ment" of needy and worthy students. The school- 
teacher is the person most respected in an average 
Japanese village, and the scholar occupies a highly 
honorable place in Japanese society. 



THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM 79 

At a Japanese university there is much which 
might be criticized in the way of a general lack of 
hotels or dormitories, the existence of bad living 
conditions and the want of proper provision for the 
care and welfare of students; there is nevertheless 
an admirable spirit of fraternity and democracy and 
a praiseworthy absence of display of wealth, snob- 
bishness or family and class distinction. In Japanese 
educational institutions the mode of life is, in fact, 
almost Spartan in its economy and simplicity, and 
intellectual superiority is the only recognized pass- 
port to distinction or success. Would that this 
could be said for American universities ! 



CHAPTER VI 

RELIGION IN JAPAN — SHINTOISM, BUDDHISM AND 
CONFUCIANISM 

I 

The three fundamental religions of Japan are 
Shinto, Buddhism and Confucianism. 

The oldest of these religions is Shinto, the "Way 
of the Gods," or, more properly speaking, of the 
kami* It is a native cult and seems to have arisen 
in remote antiquity. In its earlier or more archaic 
form it consisted of the legends and myths of Old 
Japan and constituted a species of nature- and an- 
cestor-worship of families and clans or village com- 
munities somewhat similar to the early religions of 
Greece and Rome. After the introduction during 
the early centuries of the Christian era of Chinese 
literature and philosophy, the whole mass of legends, 
myths and superstitions was organized into a sys- 
tem for a political purpose — support of Imperial 
power. 



'''The term kami was thus explained by Motoori, one of 
the great expositors of Shinto, writing during the latter part 
of the eighteenth century: "The term kami is applied in the 
first place to the various deities of Heaven and Earth who 
are mentioned in the ancient records, as well as to their 
spirits which reside in the shrines where they are worshipped. 
Moreover, not only human beings, but birds, beasts, plants 
and trees, seas and mountains, and all other things whatso- 

80 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 8i 

By some critics Shinto is hardly accounted a re- 
ligion at all in the true sense, since it is without 
creed, scripture, dogma or moral code. Native com- 
mentators have explained the absence of an ethical 
system* as being due to the innate perfection of 
Japanese humanity which needed not the ministra- 
tions of Chinese sages or Western missionaries. But 
the unethical character of Shintoism is in all proba- 
bility due to historical rather than to psychological 



ever which deserve to be dreaded and revered for the extra- 
ordinary and preeminent powers which they possess, are 
called katni. . . . Among kami who are human beings I need 
hardly mention first of all the successive Mikados — with 
reverence be it spoken. . . . Then there have been numerous 
examples of divine human beings both in ancient and modern 
times who, although not accepted by the nation generally, are 
treated as Gods, each as his several dignity, in a single 
province, village or family. . . . Amongst kami who are not 
human beings I need hardly mention Thunder. There are 
also the Dragon, the Echo, and the Fox, who are kami by 
reason of their uncanny and fearful natures. The term kami 
is applied in the Nihongi and Manyoshiu to the tiger and 
wolf. . . . There are many cases of seas and mountains, 
being called kami. It is not their spirits which are meant. 
The word was applied directly to the seas or mountains them- 
selves as being very awful things." Ashton's Shinto, pages 
6-7. Cf. Knox, The Development of Religion in Japan, 
pages 28-29. 

"Kami is simply that which is above us, so that the word 
may even now be applied to the Government and to all su- 
perior objects which excite the feelings of awe and rever- 
ence." — Knox, op. cit., pages 29-30. 

♦According to Professor Kume, one of the leading modern 
authorities on Shinto, the ethical teaching of Shinto may be 
summed up in one word — makato or Truth. " 'Be true,' was 
the sum of Shinto morals. ... A Japanese of the masses, 



82 MODERN JAPAN 

causes. However this may be, religion need have 
no moral basis other than custom, and the relation- 
ship between religion and ethics appears at all times 
and in all places to be very uncertain. Certainly in 
the universal sense of religion as characterizing the 
attitude of the human mind toward supposed supe- 
rior, mysterious or infinite powers, Shinto may be 
regarded as one of the most interesting and impor- 
tant, if undeveloped, religions of the Orient. 

The practical teaching of Shinto may perhaps be 
summed up in two single commands: "Fear the 
Gods and obey the Emperor," and "Be pure (or 
clean) in heart and body/'* While its emphasis 



even in these days, has little fancy for the high-sounding 
names, ^humanity,' 'justice/ and so forth. . . . The precept 
of all precepts, the foundation of moral teacTiings, the ulti- 
mate end of Shinto purifications by wind and by water, can 
be implied in that one word — makato. . . ." He cites the fol- 
lowing poetic aphorism of a famous Japanese poet-patriot: 
"The kami blesseth. 
Not him who prayeth, 
But him whose heart strayeth 
Not from the way of makato," 
See Okuma's Fifty Years of Japan, volume II, page 37. 

*Professor Kume cites the following hymn as expressing 
the true meaning of Japanese purification: 
"Pure be heaven. 
Pure be earth. 
Pure be within, without. 
And the six roots ;" 

the six roots signifying the five sense organs and the heart, 
the organ of feeling. See Okuma, op. cit., page 27. 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 83 

upon cleanliness is largely ceremonial in origin and 
character and the idea of purity implies no corre- 
sponding conception of moral impurity or sin, these 
ideals have not been without profound influence 
upon Japanese habits, character and disposition. 
And the value of Shintoism in developing the senti- 
ments of loyalty and patriotism can scarcely be over- 
estimated. 

Chamberlain* distinguishes three periods in the 
evolution of Shinto. During the first period — down 
to about A. D. 550 — the Japanese seemingly had no 
notion of religion as a separate institution. They 
worshipped the living Mikado and paid homage to 
the gods; that is, to deceased members of the Im- 
perial family and to the names of other great men. 
They offered prayers to the god of fire, the wind- 
gods, the god of pestilence, the goddess of food and 
to deities presiding over the gate, the cauldron, the 
sauce-pan and the kitchen. They also had a system 
of purifications for wrong-doing or for bodily de- 
filement, the purifying element being water. They 
had no idea of a code of ethics and had made no 
effort to systematize the simple notions of the peo- 
ple regarding things unseen. "There was neither 
heaven nor hell, — only a kind of neutral-tinted 
Hades. . . . Shinto may be said, in this first 
phase, to have been a set of ceremonies as much 
political as religious." 

*Things Japanese, page 419 ff., from which the above pass- 
age is condensed. 



84 MODERN JAPAN 

The introduction of Buddhism in the middle of 
the sixth century of the present era inaugurated the 
second period of Shintoism, which lasted to about 
the close of the seventeenth century. The exalted 
moral code, gorgeous ritual and profound meta- 
physics of Buddhism proved too much for the puny 
fabric of Shintoism, and further growth of that 
faith in the direction of a formal religion was 
stopped. "All that there was of religious feeling in 
the nation went over to the enemy. The Buddhist 
priesthood diplomatically received the native Shinto 
gods in their pantheon as avatars of ancient Bud- 
dhas." 

The third period in the history of Shintoism be- 
gan about 1700 and continues down to the present 
time. Under the peaceful rule of the Tokugawa 
dynasty of Shoguns, "the literati of Japan turned 
their eyes backward on their country's past. Old 
manuscripts were disinterred, old histories and 
poems were put in print, the old language was stud- 
ied and imitated. Soon the movement became re- 
ligious and political, not to say chauvinistic. The 
Shogunate was frowned on, because it had sup- 
planted the autocracy of the heaven-descended Mi- 
kados. Buddhism and Confucianism were sneered 
at because of their foreign origin. Shinto gained 
by all this. The great scholars Mabuchi (1697- 
1769), Motoori (1730- 1 801), and Hirata (1776- 
1843) devoted themselves to a religious propaganda. 
* . . . This order of ideals triumphed for a mo- 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 85 

ment in the revolution of 1868. Buddhism was 
disestablished and disendowed and Shinto was in- 
stalled as the only State religion. . . . At the 
same time thousands of temples, formerly Buddhist 
or RyobU'Shinto [mixed Buddhist and Shinto] 
were, as the phrase went, ^purified' ; that is, stripped 
of their Buddhist ornaments, and handed over 
to Shinto keeping. But as Shinto had no root 
in itself, — ^being a thing too empty and jejune to 
influence the hearts of men, — Buddhism soon ral- 
lied. . . . The whole thing is now a mere shadow, 
though Shinto is still in so far the official cult that 
certain temples are maintained out of public mon- 
eys, and that the attendance of certain officials is 
required from time to time at ceremonies of a semi- 
religious, semi-courtly nature." 

Nevertheless Shinto is still a living religion in 
Japan. It is the religion of the reigning dynasty 
and the Court, and the majority of Japanese are 
still probably Shinto-Buddhist at heart. The god- 
shelf is still found in most Japanese homes. In one 
sense all patriotic Japanese, including professing 
Christians, are Shintoist, for they practically all 
join in certain Shinto ceremonies on occasion, and 
all pay homage to the Emperor. Most of them con- 
tinue to perform acts of devotion to their ances- 
tors. If they did not such neglect would be offensive 
to the whole family. 

In 1912 Japan still contained 127,076 Shinto 
shrines with 14,352 priests or ministers divided be- 



86 MODERN JAPAN 

tween thirteen officially recognized sects.* The great 
national shrine at Ise has acquired renewed prestige 
since the Russo-Japanese War in consequence of 
visits by the late Emperor and other distinguished 
men. There have also been attempts to breathe new 
life into Shintoism on the part of several Japanese 
scholars, Dr. Inoye Tetsujiro, for example. A con- 
siderable measure of success has attended the estab- 
lishment of two new quasi-Shinto sects by two peas- 
ant women, though their practices are said to savor 
greatly of superstition and licentiousness. In gen- 
eral, Shinto priests do not enjoy a particularly good 
reputation for learning or ability. There are no 
regular rules for ordination, and only a relative few 
are well qualified for their work. There are still in 
Japan many forms of animism, fetichism, divination 
and various other kinds of magic fostered and shel- 
tered by Shinto as well as Buddhist priests. 

"Yet Shinto," says Knox, "is more than a code 
of ceremonies, for in a true sense it embodies 
the religion of the people. Its stories of the 
gods are little more than fairy tales; the laborious 
works of the great scholars who attempted to main- 
tain its inerrant truthfulness, their exegesis, apolo- 
getics, and reconciliations, merely encumber the 
shelves of antiquarian scholars; but, none the less, 
perhaps all the more, Shinto holds a large place in 
the people's hearts. . . . The legends, cosmol- 
ogy, and pseudo-history are not the reHgion, and 
its power is not in dogmas nor in forms of worship j 

* Japan Year Book (1915), pages 221-222. 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 87 

it is a spirit, the spirit of Old Japan, Yamato do 
m-asJiii. 

'The essential fact in Shinto is the religious- pa- 
triotism of the people. To them Japan is a divine 
land, and their devotion expresses itself in loyalty 
to the Emperor. With this loyalty combines a faith 
in the continued existence of the heroes of the past, 
and their inspiration of the nation in its toils and 
aspirations. The Emperor is not a god, in our mod- 
ern sense, nor is the land an abode of supernatural 
beings, but, true to the ancient meaning, 'divine* 
signifies superior, worshipful, that to which one 
bows in adoration and gives himself in consecrated 
service. The belief in the continued power and in- 
spiration of the spirits of the past, though taken 
over from the Chinese, has become essential, yet 
rests on no argument and is embodied in no dogma. 
It has no clear vision of a heaven or hell, or of any 
state of rewards and punishments. In emotional 
content it can scarcely be distinguished from our 
Western reverence for the saintly and heroic dead, 
while its influence on the living is akin to the pa- 
triotic feelings excited by our recognition of a pre- 
cious inheritance in the patriots of ages past. Thus 
Shinto is witness to an abiding reality. Though its 
forms perish, its substance remains beyond the reach 
of hostile criticism and argument. If its doctrine 
be vague, and its emotions with difficulty described, 
this is because it belongs to those powerful feelings 
which are only partly differentiated, and in this it 
remains a true representative of primitive religion, 
of the simple feelings which persist, their interpreta- 
tion being restated with man's progress in knowl- 
edge. Shinto will survive — not in its dates, nor its 
genealogies, not in its theory of the descent of its sov- 



88 MODERN JAPAN 

ereign from Ame-terasu-no-Mikoto, nor in its le- 
gends and cosmology, but in the affections of the 
people, their trust in the national powers and des- 
tiny, and their confidence that there is a something 
more than their present strength and wisdom which 
directs and aids and on which they may rely. The 
'something more' may receive new names, but the 
faith will abide while Japan works out a future 
greater and more glorious than the fabled Age of 
the Gods."* 



II 



As stated above, Buddhism, or the "Way of the 
Buddhas," was introduced into Japan by way of 
Korea during the middle of the sixth century A. D., 
when it effected that wonderful transformation of 
Japanese art and civilization which may be compared 
with the recent revolution wrought by the introduc- 
tion of Western scientific knowledge and machinery 
during the Meiji era of enhghtenment 

The Buddhism which entered Japan was that of 
the Greater Vehicle from northern India and China 
as distinguished from the Lesser Vehicle of Ceylon 
and Southern India. 

In its long historical development of over a thou- 
sand years in India and China, Buddhism had under- 
gone a tremendous transformation, having gathered 
unto itself many new doctrines and strange deities. 



*Knox, Religion in Japan, pages 77-79' 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 89 

It had, in fact, expanded into a system which was, 
in many respects, diametrically opposed to the teach- 
ings of Gautama, the founder of Buddhism. 

According to Rhys-Davids, one of the greatest 
authorities on Buddhism, the essential doctrines of 
Buddhism are : ( i ) the impemvanence of all things 
human or divine; (2) that sorrow or pain is the 
result of the great delusion of individuality, sepa- 
rateness, or self; or, in other words, all evil is due 
to the erroneous illusion expressed in the sayings, 
"This is I,'' "This is mine" ; (3) the doctrine of the 
karnm, or the fate which makes us temporary links 
in a long chain of cause and effect, thus binding us 
for countless ages to an endless series of past and 
future existences. 

From this apparently endless chain of existence 
(itself assumed to be an evil) in various and mani- 
fold forms, Gautama provided a means of escape 
or salvation in the present life through which peace 
or perfect rest (Nirvana) might be attained. Thfs 
was by following the Middle Way of the Noble 
Eightfold Path, consisting of Right Views (free 
from superstition or delusion). Right Aspiration 
(high and worthy of the intelligent, worthy man), 
Right Speech (kindly, open, truthful), Right Con- 
duct (peaceful, honest, pure). Right Livelihood 
(bringing hurt or danger to no living thing). Right 
Effort (in self-training and in self-control). Right 
Mindedness (the active, watchful mind), and Right 
Rapture (in deep meditation of the realities of life). 



90 MODERN JAPAN 

In the Greater Vehicle this relatively simple body 
of teaching is obscured, perverted or overlaid with 
no end of superstitions and metaphysical concep- 
tions. "Buddha is no longer the historical Gautama, 
nor is the truth identical with his system. As sim- 
ultaneously he was visible to men and Gods in a 
human body under the Bo tree, and was present in 
eternal, unchangeable, spiritual communion with the 
Absolute, so Buddha is at once the historical per- 
sonages who have taught successively the truth to 
men, and the Absolute itself The histor- 
ical Gautama occupies a subordinate place since a 
way is opened for belief in many Buddhas, and sal- 
vation in Nirvana is replaced by the desire for the 
attainment of Buddhahood and absorption in the 
Absolute."* 

**The two Vehicles indeed have many points of 
difference," says Knox. ''The 'Little' has to do with 
only one Buddha, the historic Gautama, while the 
Greater Vehicle obscures his importance in a multi- 
tude of mythical Buddhas past and present and to 
come; the Little Vehicle sets forth Nirvana as the 
object of attainment, the Greater strives after Bud- 
dhahood, and teaches that each disciple may become 
like the Master and aid in the salvation of others; 
the Little Vehicle refuses to speak of the ultimate 
questions, and is a religion without a God or a soul, 
the Greater is metaphysical through and through, 
and sets up again these ontological entities. But 



♦Knox, The Development of Religion in Japan, page 97. 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 91 

the chief difference, that in which all the rest con- 
verge, is in the doctrine of the Absolute. Gautama 
is represented as dissuading his disciples from seek- 
ing it, while in the Greater Vehicle its understand- 
ing is the end of endeavor, and believers are ever 
mindful of its presence behind the phenomenal 
world."* 

The following is an old Buddhistic hymn descrip- 
tive of the bliss of one who has attained the state of 
Nirvana or Right Rapture : 

"Blessed are we who hate not those who hate us ; 

Who among men full of hate, continue void of 
hate. 

Blessed are we who dwell in health among the ail- 
ing; 

Who among men weary and sick, continue well. 

Blessed are we who dwell free from care among 
the care-worn, 

Who among men full of worries continue calm. 

Blessed indeed are we who have no hindrances, 

Who shall become feeders on joy, like the Gods in 
their shrine of splendour."! 

The new religion made rapid progress soon after 
its introduction into Japan. It brought with it 
the arts, handicrafts and vastly superior civilization 
of China. It built magnificent temples, introduced 
medicine, created dramatic poetry, imported an army 
of artists and skilled workmen of all sorts, and so 



*Kiiox, op. cit., pages 101-2. 

fCf. Nitobe, The Japanese Nation, page 148, and Rhys- 
Davids, Buddhism, page 171. 



92 MODERN JAPAN 

lifted the hitherto crude and semi-barbarous Jap- 
anese to a much higher stage of culture than they 
had ever dreamed of. By the year 621 many tem- 
ples had already been built through the work of 
missionaries encouraged by the regent Shotuku. In 
710 was founded the great monastery at Nara. In 
754 the reigning Mikado and the Court were con- 
verted. 

But there still remained the conversion of the 
great masses of the common people who clung to 
their native Shinto cult. This was accomplished 
by the priestly craft of the brilliant and learned monk 
Kobo Daishi, who also invented the Japanese kana 
or phonetic syllabary of forty-seven letters. Kobo 
obtained from the great goddess at Ise a revelation 
to the effect that all Shinto deities or kami are in- 
carnations of Buddha. There was thus introduced 
into Japan early in the ninth century that form of 
Shinto or Mixed Buddhism known as Riyobu, which 
may be said to be the popular religion of Japan down 
to the present day. Except in a few places Shinto, 
as a religion, almost disappeared, and for almost a 
thousand years was little more than a mere mythol- 
ogy or "the shadow of a mythology."* Yet its soul 
or spirit survived, and it is difficult to say whether 
in the fusion process Buddhism was Shintoized or 
Shinto Buddhaized. The average Japanese appears 
to have given this matter no consideration, for he 



*Griffis, The Religion of Japan, page 211. 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 93 

continues to lead a double religious life without 
thought or fear of consequences. 

However, there have been in Japan a number of 
revivals of Buddhism which have resulted in the for- 
mation of new schools or sects. As a result of the 
first of these movements, early in the ninth century, 
there were founded two great sects — the powerful 
Shingon Shu or Sect of the True Word, and the 
famous Tendai Sect. Though of Qiinese origin, 
each represented a hospitable form of Japanized 
Buddhism, both accepting the Shinto deities as in- 
carnations of Buddha. 

The Shingon Sect, which is still one of the most 
popular, was introduced by Kobo Daishi in 806. 
"His system shows Buddha is the center of a world 
of ideas which exists behind and within the unreal 
world of appearances. The center of the world of 
ideas is Dai Nichi, identified by the common people 
with the sun, and around him are the four Buddhas 
of contemplation representing the highest abstrac- 
tions, and around these group after group signifi- 
cant of genera and species, until the individual is 
reached. This is the 'diamond' world, unchanging 
and real, while the phenomenal world is also grouped 
around Dai Nichi, who is represented not now as 
the sun surrounded by four planets, but as the center 
of the lotus with eight Buddhas about him as petals. 
Thus he, or better IT, is the center of all things, 
real and phenomenal, and correspondingly there are 
two ways of salvation, by meditation and knowl- 



94 MODERN JAPAN 

edge, and by a righteous life. The end of the 'Way* 
is reached when perfect knowledge is attained and 
the individual is absorbed in the Infinite. In popu- 
lar language we become Buddha. Thus was the his- 
toric Buddha himself absorbed, and as his individ- 
uality disappeared so has his distinctive teaching 
and glory, for he remains in the system only as one 
of the four Buddhas of contemplation, a symbol of 
the highest abstraction, one of the last ideas which 
remain before all is swallowed up in the Absolute."* 

The Tendai Sect, parent of many sects, intro- 
duced by Dengyo in 805, is eclectic and highly meta- 
physical and combines various ways of salvation. 
It is no longer very numerous, continuing to live 
in its branches rather than in the parent stock. Its 
teachers have been called the Jesuits of Buddhism. 

The Zen Sect, introduced in the twelfth century, 
the members of which have been referred to as the 
Quakers of Japanese Buddhism, is also highly meta- 
physical and contemplative. It seeks salvation main- 
ly through meditation and suggestion. Its chief 
tenet reminds one strongly of one of the fimdamen- 
tal sayings of Christ: "Look carefully within and 
there you will find the Buddha." Though not nu- 
merous, the Zen priests and philosophers have exer- 
cised a great influence on Japanese thought and prac- 
tical life, more particularly on the military class or 
Samurai, who practised Bushido. 



*Knox, op. cit, page 99. 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 95 

The great period of religious reformation in Ja- 
pan was the twelfth century. In 1175 Honen 
founded the important Jodo or Pure Land Sect. 
In the midst of the mazes of Buddhistic sutras* and 
their eighty-four thousand doctrines, Honen discov- 
ered a new and simple path leading to the Western 
Paradise so ardently desired by many northern 
Buddhists to whom the Nirvana did not greatly ap- 
peal. According to the new teaching, metaphysical 
speculation and doctrinal controversy are unneces- 
sary for salvation, which is obtained through the 
merits of Amida Buddha. There was thus intro- 
duced a Buddhistic doctrine of justification by faith 
somewhat analogous to that emphasized by Luther 
in Christian Europe. 

There also appeared in the twelfth century per- 
haps the greatest of the Japanese religious reform- 
ers, Shinran, who founded the Shin Shu or True 
Sect of the Pure Land. This Japanese Luther was 
a radical who taught an extreme form of Buddhistic 
Protestantism both in theory and practice. He not 
only emphasized the doctrine of justification by 
faith through belief in Amida alone, but his follow- 
ers, who have been called the Methodists of Bud- 
dhism, believe in sudden conversion and sanctifica- 



*Near the large Japanese temples there may be found a 
large wooden bookcase which contains the 6,771 books of 
the Buddhistic canon. In lieu of reading these volumes, one 
may acquire merit by turning this case which revolves on a 
pivot — a device still simpler than Honen's discovery. 



96 MODERN JAPAN 

tion. They do not believe in fasts, pilgrimages, 
charms or other forms of religious magic so freely 
practised by most Buddhists. Like Luther, Shinran 
himself set the example of marriage for the clergy. 
Shin Shu is to-day the largest, most influential and 
active sect of Japanese Buddhism."^ 

In the thirteenth century v^^as founded the Nichi- 
ren Sect by way of protest or reaction against the 
Shin and Jodo Sects. Nichiren was an ultra-pa- 
triotic and democratic saint who incorporated all pos- 
sible Buddhistic superstitions and idolatries into his 
system. In contrast to the Pure Land Sects, he em- 
phasized the importance of salvation by works, and 
his followers are for the most part very narrow and 
sectarian, refusing to intermarry with members of 
other sects and regarding themselves as the only 
true Buddhists. They are very noisy, superstitious 
and much given to pilgrimages. They have been 
called the Salvation Army or Ranters of Buddhism. 

Within recent years there has developed a recru- 
descence of Buddhistic thought and activity, partic- 
ularly among those of the Shin Sect. Opinions dif- 
fer as to the value of this movement known as the 
New Buddhism, which seems to have been inspired 
by modern science and Christian activities. Dr. 
Sawayanaga, for example, thinks that, though 



*In 1912 it had 19,620 temples and 15,781 priests as com- 
pared with 14,225 temples and 10,452 priests of the Soto or 
sub-Jodo Sect. See tables on page 225 of Japan Year Book 
for 1915. 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 97 

founded on the idea of progress, it has failed to 
make much progress along social lines. Thie young 
men, even if educated at the universities, are not 
equal to the old priests. Buddhism has been crowded 
out by the higher education. This is perhaps the 
opinion of a conservative. Dr. Takakusa is more 
optimistic. He considers the new religion ethical, 
practical and philosophical as compared with the 
formalism, superstition, idle speculation and theo- 
logical dogmatism of the orthodox Buddhism. Dr. 
Murakana complains that the new Buddhists have 
no message for the old, ignorant and the weary- 
laden.* Dr. Kato is pessimistic. His finding is that 
Buddhism is in a pitiable condition and that within 
recent years it has gone from bad to worse. The 
fault is not, he says, with Buddhism, which as a 
religion is superior to Christianity, but with its 
priests, who are greatly inferior to Christian pas- 
tors. Dr. Inoue represents the new sect as a pow- 
erful body doing good work; and, like the new 
Christianity, is engaged in preaching ethics, charity 
and various kinds of social reform. 

On the whole, it may be said that Japanese Bud- 
dhism, though considerably weakened by its contact 
with modern science and Christianity, is by no means 
moribund or hopelessly debased, as seems to be the 
case in China. In its purer or mixed forms, it is 



♦These opinions are gathered from the Religious Sum- 
maries in the Japan Mail (weekly) for 1910-12. 



98 MODERN JAPAN 

still the predominant religion of the middle and 
lower classes, and the Shin Sect in particular is show- 
ing signs of increasing regeneration and activity. 
For some years Buddhist priests have taken an ac- 
tive interest in education and social reforms, more 
especially in charity and prison reform. Vast sums 
have been collected for temple building, though it 
might be supposed that the publicity given to the 
Hangwanji temple scandal of 19 14* would tend to 
discourage such contributions. There have also been 
recent attempts to revive Buddhistic propaganda in 
Thibet, Central Asia and China, f 

Buddhistic services are conducted in the army, 
at factories and among the poor; while associations 
in imitation of such organizations as the Y. M. C. A. 
are being organized. Buddhists have also estab- 
lished Sunday-schools, temperance and reform so- 
cieties, orphan asylums, deaf and dumb schools, hos- 
pitals, prisoners'-aid-societies and free lodging 
houses. They have also founded mission schools, 
even for women and young girls; they are educat- 
ing many of their young priests in Western science 



*For the main facts of this disgraceful scandal, see Japan 
Year Book for 191 5, page 225. 

fin its weekly issue dated July 17, 1915, the Japan Mail 
reports that some thirty representatives of the various Bud- 
dhistic sects of Japan were shortly to visit China under the 
auspices of the Buddhist Club for the purpose of promoting 
a complete understanding between the Buddhists of the two 
countries. The Japanese demands on China in May, 1915* 
included a provision for Buddhistic propaganda. 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 99 

and philosophy and at the universities; they are 
publishing and distributing many pamphlets and 
magazines, not to mention translations of their own 
sacred writings. We have been told that they have 
even appropriated the Sermon on the Mount and 
other Christian writings, as well as imitated such 
forms of Christian activities as sermons, revivals 
and so forth. We may yet see a form of Christian- 
ized Buddhism or Buddhaized Christianity.* 

Ill 

Confucianism! appears to have entered Japan 
through Korea at about the end of the fourth cen- 
tury, A. D., though it does not seem to have exerted 



*For many of these facts, we are indebted to Rev. A. K. 
Reischauer, a profound student of Japanese Buddhism. 

tConfucianism is usually referred to as an ethical system 
rather than a religion. This is true in one sense, yet it is 
also true that this ethical system has some of the character- 
istics of religion. In most religions (including many forms 
of Christianity) worship plays the leading role, and ethics is 
relegated to a more or less subordinate place. In Confucianism 
this relation is reversed. Confucius and his followers were 
indifferent to worship, but recognized the existence of dieties 
and demons who were to be reverenced, though kept at a 
distance. But Confucius accepted and encouraged the wor- 
ship of ancestors. The religious character of Confucianism 
is, however, especially shown by its attitude toward Heaven 
which plays the role of a Providence like the Christian God, 
the German Emperor or the Japanese Mikado. See Knox, 
op. cit., lecture 6. 



100 MODERN JAPAN 

a great influence prior to the seventh century, when 
a Central University was established at Kyoto, to- 
gether with schools in the provinces where Chinese 
text-books were used. During the seventh, eighth 
and ninth centuries there were direct and continuous 
communications with China, and numerous schol- 
ars wrote Chinese verse and prose or lectured on 
the Confucian classics ; but, owing to the subsequent 
cessation of official relations, Chinese learning and 
civilization in Japan suffered a decline during and 
after the tenth century. 

However, these blessings were revived during the 
thirteenth century through the introduction, by 
priests of the Zen Sect and others, of the so-called 
Sung school* of Confucian learning which arose in 



*"This branch of Confucianism is a system of thought 
founded by the Ch'ing brothers and Chutsze and other 
scholars of the Sung dynasty. It is elaborated on the dual- 
istic basis of ri and ki (the former indicating the naturally 
existent idealistic principle and the latter the materialistic 
principle). In this respect its scope of study is far removed 
from that of the original Confucianism. . . . During the Sui 
and Tang dynasties, Buddhism predominated throughout the 
Chinese Empire, and eventually almost stifled Confucianism. 
# . . Among a great many Confucianists of the Sung dynasty, 
Chutsze ( 1 130-1200), above all, grasped the spirit of Bud- 
dhism, and using it as a framework, clothed it with the flesh 
and blood of Confucianism, and thus evolved the theory of the 
dualism of ri and ki above referred to. It was largely due 
to his strenuous efforts that vitality was restored once again 
to decadent Confucianism. . . . This Sung school of learning, 
introduced into Japan . . . brought vitality to the Confucian- 
ism of the day, and qualified it to be taken for a standard of 



RELIGION IN JAPAN loi 

China during the twelfth century and exerted a pow- 
erful influence upon subsequent Chinese and Japanese 
cultural development. It was particularly that form 
of revived Chinese Confucianism known as the 
Shushi philosophy which attracted lyeyasu, the 
founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate during the 
early part of the seventeenth centur}^ who made it 
the authorized system of education.* 

lyeyasu's attraction for the Shushi philosophy 
seems to have been due to its emphasis upon the 
virtue of obedience. Yet he was himself a good deal 
of a philosopher, as shown by the following oft- 
quoted passage from his pithy sayings : 

"Life is like unto a long journey with a heavy 
burden. Let thy step be slow and steady, that thou 
stumble not. Persuade thyself that imperfection 
and inconvenience is the nature of mortals, and there 
will be no room for discontent, neither for despair. 
When ambitious desires arise in the heart recall the 
days of extremity thou last passed through. For- 
bearance is the root of quietness and assurance for- 
ever. Look upon wrath as thy enemy. If thou 



moral conduct." — Prof. Inouye, in Okuma's Fifty Years of 
Japan, volume II, pages 46-47. 

♦"The system he [lyeyasu] encouraged was established by 
Shushi (Choo He), a Chinese, who was born in 1130 and 
died in 1200. Shushi was also a statesman, an historian, and 
a philosopher. He succeeded in organizing a system of 
thought which claimed to be Confucian, but was in reality a 
new system based on the teachings of the Confucian classics 
and influenced by Buddhism and Taoism." Armstrong, Light 
from the East, page 35. 



102 MODERN JAPAN 

knowest only what it is to conquer, and knowest 
not what it is to be defeated, woe unto thee; it 
will fare ill with thee. Find fault with thyself 
rather than with others." 

It was during the period of the Tokugawa Sho- 
gunate (1603-1867) that Confucianism reached its 
highest point of development and exercised its most 
powerful influence in Japan. The principles of the 
various schools of the Sung learning, as taught by 
a long line of able scholars and educators, were 
generally accepted by the upper classes of Japanese 
society. Confucian education formed the character 
of the ruling and warrior classes of this period, the 
Bushido practised by the Samurai being essentially 
a modified form of Confucianism; and, though this 
ethical and religious system has suffered a great de- 
cline during the Meiji period of Enlightenment, the 
majority of the creators of New Japan were Con- 
fucianists. Consequently the soul or spirit of Con- 
fucianism still largely permeates the educational 
system of Japan, influences the outlook of the Japa- 
nese mind and controls the habits of the people, more 
especially within the domain of domestic or family 
Hfe. 

IV 

Bushido, meaning literally Military-Knight-Ways, 
is a form of Oriental stoicism. It has been defined 
as "a. code of morals which enjoins loyalty, cour- 
age, self-control, honor, moderation, a sense of jus- 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 103 

tice and shame, politeness, sincerity and benevo- 
lence." Like European chivalry, it was a. product 
of feudalism, but it lacked the individualistic ten- 
dencies and chivalrous attitude toward women of its 
Western counterpart. Its central principles were a 
sense of honor and loyalty to superiors. Though 
Biishido was formerly the particular possession of 
the Samurai class, it has, doubtless in a form greatly 
attenuated, become the property of the whole nation. 
It still exerts a powerful influence, especially in the 
form of loyalty to the reigning dynasty. 

In the process of acclimatization into Japan, Chi- 
nese Confucianism, like all things foreign, underwent 
considerable modification, yet retained its essential 
characteristics. 

The fundamental social teaching of Confucius and 
his followers is that of the five relationships and the 
resulting five essential virtues. These virtues are 
humanity or benevolence, righteousness, propriety, 
wisdom and sincerity. The five relationships are 
the relation between ruler and ruled, involving loy- 
alty; that of parent and child, enjoining filial piety; 
that of husband and wife implying a reciprocal ob- 
servance of the duties of benevolence and obedience; 
that between the elder and younger brother, and 
the relation between friends, necessitating mutual 
fidelity. 

In the Chinese system the paramount relation is 
that between parent and child, involving the prac- 
tice of humanity or benevolence and filial piety. 



I04 MODERN JAPAN 

"The great precept of humanity is 'Subdue thyself 
and return to propriety/ It is to behave abroad as 
if receiving a guest, to employ the people as if as- 
sisting at a great sacrifice, not to do to others as you 
would not have them do to you, and to have no mur- 
muring against you in the country or in the family. 
Thus loyalty is the chief expression of himianity, 
though it may be practised towards inferiors and 
friends and generally in the service of others. It 
includes dignity, reverence, indulgence, sincerity, 
earnestness and kindness. The superior man never 
forsakes it, but obtains his name by it, and in all 
emergencies cleaves to it. But no inferior man pos- 
sesses it."^ 

In Japan, on the other hand, the loyalty which 
was emphasized' was that of obedience to superiors. 
Filial piety or obedience to and reverence for par- 
ents is also emphasized, but is subordinated in the 
Samurai code of Biishido to loyalty to feudal supe- 
riors. Confucius exalted courage, but it was moral 
courage rather than the martial valor of the war- 
rior. In Japan moral bravery was transmuted into 
the military virtues desirable in a race of warriors. 

Confucianism has practically lost its hold even 
upon the intellectual classes of Japan, though its 
humanitarian and ethical principles are deeply 
implanted in their minds and characters. Some of 
its spirit and much of its teaching may even be said 



*Knox, Religion in Japan, page 145. 



RELIGION IN JAPAN 105 

to have formed a part of Japanese education both in 
the home and in the school and thus to have per- 
meated the nation at large. Within recent years 
there has also been a more or less conscious revival 
of Confucianism through the establishment of Con- 
fucian societies, but they have not excited much 
interest. Many of the intellectuals of Japan still 
profess Confucianism in a somewhat lukewarm 
fashion. 



CHAPTER VII 

RELIGION IN JAPAN — CHRISTIANITY 



Christianity was introduced into Japan in the 
middle of the sixteenth century* by Jesuits working 
under Portuguese auspices. Though progress was 
somewhat slow at the outset, the seed sown did not 
fall on stony ground. Fertilized by commercial 
motives, it soon brought forth a good harvest, espe- 
cially among the daimios and their retainers of Kiu- 
shiu. Within a generation, the Jesuits could boast 
of one hundred and fifty thousand converts, perhaps 



*The famous Spanish missionary to the Indies, Francis 
Xavier, landed at Kagoshimo in August, 1549. He was not 
very successful in this new field, having made less than one 
thousand converts, mainly in the southern island of Kiushiu, 
during his stay of twenty-six months in the country. His 
journey to Kyoto was wholly fruitless from a religious point 
of view. He soon discovered that one of the main impedi- 
ments to the adoption of Christianity by the educated Japa- 
nese was that the "Chinese had evidently heard nothing about 
a personal Creator." He therefore determined upon his 
futile mission to China under the impression that "if the 
Chinese adopt the Christian religion the Japanese also will 
abandon the religions they have introduced from China." He 
died near Canton on December 2, 1552. The citations are 
from Murdock's History of Japan, volume H, page 64. 

106 



CHRISTIANITY 107 

one per cent, of the population. The eagerness of 
the local princelets for the Portuguese trajde vastly 
aided the work of the Jesuit missionaries, who pro- 
ceeded to convert the rulers and then persuaded 
them "to proscribe all non-Christian cults within 
their domains. In some cases only a day's notice was 
granted for those who would not adopt the foreign 
religion to quit their ancestral homes, the images 
of Buddha were hacked to pieces and the native 
temples given over to the flames."* 

At the time of his assassination in 1582 the cele- 
brated Nobunaga, the leading feudal chieftain of 
Japan, still treated the Jesuits with marked favor. 
Nobunaga's successor, Hideyoshi (a great ruler who 
made himself master of Japan before his death 
in 1598, effected the temporary subjugation of 
Korea, and even aspired to the conquest of China), 
also favored the missionaries during the first five 
years of his reign. But having had his attention 
called to the fact that the Jesuits were devoting most 
of their time to the conversion of men of noble birth, 
he became suspicious, and began to fear that the 
"propagation of the faith would be prejudicial to 
the safety of the Empire."^ 

*ChamberlaIn, Things Japanese, page 323, For details, see 
Murdoch, op. cit., chapter 3. 

fThis is also the main key to the subsequent persecution 
of the Christians by lyeyasu and his successors. The citation 
in italics is from the missionary Froez's famous Narrative of 
the Death of the Twenty-six Crucified^ written in 1597, the 
year of this tragic event. 



io8 MODERN JAPAN 

Hideyoshi's first "bolt from the blue" came in 
1587; when he suddenly issued an edict ordering all 
foreign priests to leave Japan within twenty days. 
But the order was not fully executed, and Hideyoshi 
withheld his hand until 1597, when he ordered the 
arrest and crucifixion of six Franciscans, three Jap- 
anese Jesuits and seventeen Japanese Christians 
(mostly domestics of the Franciscans), w^ho were 
conducting a religious propaganda in defiance of his 
orders and their express pledges. 

It is said that this outburst of fury on the part 
of Hideyoshi was due to an incident which is worth 
relating because of the light it throws upon the sit- 
uation. Toward the end of 1596 a richly-laden 
Spanish galleon called the San Felipe had been 
stranded on the Japanese coast and her valuable 
cargo confiscated in accordance with Japanese law. 
In his desire to impress the local authorities, the 
pilot of the vessel — to quote the ecclesiastical his- 
torian Charlevoix, "inflicted a wound on religion 
which is still bleeding." He produced a map of the 
world and pointed out the vast extent of the Spanish 
dominions. On being asked how it was that so 
many countries had been brought under the rule of 
one man, he replied : 

"Our Kings began by sending into the countries 
they wanted to conquer priests who induced the peo- 
ple to embrace our religion; and when they have 
made considerable progress troops are sent who 
combine with the new Christians, and then our 



CHRISTIANITY 109 

Kings have not much trouble in accomplishing the 
rest/'* 

Like his great predecessor Hideyoshi, lyeyasu, 
founder of the Tokugawa Shogunate, being eager 
for foreign trade, tolerated the foreign priests dur- 
ing the early years of his rule. But, whether wear- 
ied at last by the unseemly squabbles between the 
Jesuits and Franciscans, who omitted no opportu- 
nity to calumniate each other, or whether convinced 
that the Christians were conspiring against the Gov- 
ernment, lyeyasu instituted a change of policy and 
early in 16 14 ordered the suppression of Christianity 
and the deportation of all foreign priests. 

It should, however, be noted that during lyeyasu's 
lifetime, not a single European missionary was exe- 
cuted. The first executions of foreign priests oc- 
curred in 161 7, i. e., a year after lyeyasu's death. 
lyeyasu was well informed regarding contemporary 
events in Europe. This we know from his conver- 
sations with Will Adams, an English pilot in the 
Dutch service who Avas in high favor with the Sho- 
gun during the first quarter of the seventeenth cen- 
tury, lyeyasu is even said to have sent an emissary 



*Murdoch, volume II, pages 287-88. Chamberlain, who 
also relates this incident in briefer form justly observes 
(Things Japanese, page 325 n.) : "History repeats itself; for 
the conduct of Europe towards China in our own day ex- 
hibits precisely the same medley of genuine piety on the part 
of the missionaries, and shameless aggression on the part of 
the countries which send them out." 



no MODERN JAPAN 

to Europe to study the customs and institutions of 
Christians at home. In view of the conditions in 
Europe at this time, it can hardly be a matter of 
surprise that his report was highly unfavorable. 

The edict of 1614 marks the beginning of a war 
to the death between Christianity and the Japanese 
Government, a struggle which resulted in the prac- 
tical extinction of Christianity after the Christian 
Shinabara Revolt of 1637-38 and the exclusion of 
the Portuguese,* who were suspected of having fo- 
mented the revolt. During this period there was 
placed upon the public notice-boards of Japanese 
roadsides and villages the following inscription: 

"So long as the Sun shall warm the earth let no 
Christian be so bold as to come to Japan, and let 
all know that the King of Spain himself, or the 
Christian's God, or the great Grod of all, if he vio- 
lates this command shall pay for it with his head." 

II 

The policy of suppression was officially main- 
tained until 1873, when the prohibition of Christian 
worship and teaching was revoked, though the prac- 

*The Spaniards were excluded in 1624. Three years 
earlier all Japanese had been forbidden to leave the country. 
Nearly three hundred thousand Christians were massacred, 
suffered martyrdom, or were forced to recant; and at the 
close of this rebellion the ports and coasts of Japan were 
sealed to all foreigners except to the Chinese and a few 
Dutch traders who were permitted to reside and trade in 
semi-captivity on the island of Deshima near Nagasaki. 



CHRISTIANITY in 

tice of strict exclusion in matters of trade had been 
abandoned twenty years earlier (1853-4), when 
Commodore Perry's squadron had begun to pry open 
the doors of Japan. 

The first Protestant missions were established in 
1859 under American auspices and the first modern 
Catholic mission in 1864. Progress was naturally 
slow at first, and by 1872 no more than ten converts 
had been baptized, but the number of converts in- 
creased rapidly during the decade from 1878 to 
1888. Then set in a period of reaction, due largely 
to the failure of treaty revision, which considerably 
retarded the growth of Christianity in Japan. Since 
then so-called Christian activities have considerably 
broadened and deepened in scope and intensity, but 
the results measured by the number of churches and 
converts can hardly be a source of unmitigated sat- 
isfaction to zealous workers and their supporters.* 

*The statistics of Christian Churches in Japan for 1913 
published in the Japan Year Book for 1915 (page 22^) give a 
total of 1,356 churches, 2,255 Japanese and foreign pastors, 
and 164,054 believers as compared with 1,731 churches, 2,198 
native ministers and foreign missionaries (including, in this 
case, their wives), and 192,573 members in 1909. (See Japan 
Year Book for 1913, page 93.) During this same period the 
number of Roman Catholic churches had apparently de- 
creased from 232 to T89 and of Russo-Greek from 265 to 131. 
Of the 164,054 communicants in 191 3, 65,615 are registered 
as Roman Catholic, 14.206 as Russo-Greek, 21,018 as Nippon 
Kristo, 13,356 as Japan Methodist, etc. There were 1,506 
Japanese pastors as compared with 749 foreign missionaries. 

There seems also to have been a deterioration in the qual- 
ity of the native (Japanese) ministry. Galen M. Fisher, 



112 MODERN JAPAN 

The causes of the retardation or comparative fail- 
ure of the Christian movement in Japan are many 
and various. They are probably to be found pri- 
marily in the characteristics and institutions of the 
Japanese people rather than in any lack of devotion 
or wrong method of propaganda on the part of the 
missionaries. 

In the first place, the present-day Japanese are 
extremely patriotic — not to say chauvinistic. The 
*'Soul of Japan," the Yamato Danmshi, still beats 
strongly in the Japanese breast. Rooted in ancestor- 
and Mikado-worship and wedded to old or hallowed 
customs, this old Japan spirit is instinctively hostile 
to things foreign, more particularly to those of a 
religious nature. And many of the emphatic issues 
of Western morality have hitherto been considered 
of secondary importance in the old code of Japan. 

During the early Westernizing period, which 
lasted, roughly speaking, from 1870 to 1885, Chris- 
tianity shared in the enthusiasm for things Occi- 
dental, which pervaded many Japanese circles. Cer- 



Secretary of the Y. M. C. A. In Japan, sounds the following 
warning: "A generation ago the Christian ministr}'- was the 
leader in all departments of progressive thought and activity, 
but to-day it is but a camp follower. . . . The rising roar of 
materialistic development and the loud voice of irreligious 
and anti-Christian thought are threatening to drown out the 
voice of the Christian pulpit." The Christian Movement in 
Japan for 1913, page 30. Cf. D. B. Schneder on "Christian 
Education in Japan" in the Christian Movement for 1912, 
pages 66-67. 



CHRISTIANITY 113 

tain leading publicists and educationalists — among 
them the famous Fukuzawa — even advocated the 
profession of Christianity as a means of winning 
the good-will of foreigners. "Granted,'* said these 
counselors, "that the Christian dogmas are a bitter 
pill to swallow, let the pill be swallowed without 
chewing, for the sake of its after effects/'* 



III 

Religious freedom is guaranteed by the Consti- 
tution, and the Japanese Government has always 
wisely insisted that the public schools be free from 
all sectarian intrusion. It has, to a certain extent, 
even discouraged the teaching of religion in private 
schools. On the whole it must be said that the atti- 
tude of the Japanese bureaucracy (including that of 



♦Cited from Walter Dening, Japanese Modern Literature, 
page 171, in the Transaction of the Asiatic Society of Japan, 
volume XLI, part I (1913). Mr. Dening adds: "In giving 
this advice, Mr. Fukuzawa was careful to let it be known 
that he himself took no interest in religion whatever. . . . 
Religion is very much like a garment (to a typical Japanese 
like jNIr. Fukuzawa) to be put on or taken off as expediency 
dictates." Mr. Dening also cites Dr. Kato, one of Japan's 
leading philosophers during the Meiji period, as saying: 
"If asked what are my own views on religion, I reply that I 
dislike all religions equally and resort to philosophy. Relig- 
ion is not needed for educated people. But the majority of 
people are not educated. It is for these that religion is 
designed." This was said in the course of an argument in 
favor of the teaching of rehgion in government schools. 



114 MODERN JAPAN 

the Department of Education) is decidedly cold to- 
ward all religion, and more particularly toward 
Christianity. This is no mean obstacle to religious 
propaganda in a country where the people are 
greatly influenced by the views and temper of the 
official class. One reason for this attitude is the 
undoubted suspicion that loyalty to the throne may 
be undermined and nationalism endangered by 
Christian teaching. 

Another reason for the relative failure of the 
Christian propaganda has been found in the utili- 
tarian character of the Japanese mind. We fre- 
quently hear it said by Japanese themselves that 
their fellow-countrymen are wanting in enthusiasm 
for truth for its own sake. Whether this is a ra- 
cial characteristic or a mere stage in their historical 
development it is impossible to say, but it seems to 
be a pure assumption to claim that the possession 
of such a quality would favor the spread of "Chris- 
tian truth." 

One unquestionable source of confusion to the 
Japanese seeker after religious "truth" has been the 
many conflicting voices calling to him from the 
West. Not only are there more or less conflict- 
ing doctrines of the various sects, but the intelligent 
and diligent inquirer must soon have discovered 
that the Western nations were not really Chris- 
tian in theory or practice. It was not merely that 
the merchants, sailors and tourists with whom he 
came in contact failed in the practice of the Chris- 



CHRISTIANITY 115 

tiaii virtues, but an impartial study of the history 
of the so-called Christian civilization of the West 
must have convinced him that, in marked contrast 
to the printed Gospel, its historical pages were 
steeped in corruption and bloodshed. 

Not merely this, but obviously leaders of Western 
thought had long since begun to doubt the truth of 
much that was taught and printed concerning their 
religious teachings. There were the eighteenth cen- 
tury deists like Voltaire, Rousseau and Montes- 
quieu; the English utilitarians like Hume, Mill and 
Bentham ; the evolutionists like Darwin, Spencer and 
Huxley; and finally the higher critics like Strauss, 
Bauer and Renen. 

Then there were the materialistic tendencies of 
the age which turned the energies and interests of 
men into commercial and industrial channels. There 
were also the problems of politics and diplomacy 
which had a superior attraction for the youth of 
Japan. 

Some of the leaders of Japanese thought rallied 
to the defense of old Japanese ideals and teachings. 
Dr. Inoue, for example, in the interest of national- 
ism and conservatism, made several severe attacks 
on Christianity; Sewayanagi defended the practice 
of loyalty and filial piety as the true basis of Japa- 
nese morality; Dr. Kato applied the doctrine of 
evolution to Confucian ethics ; and Professor A'ne- 
zaki began to present a new interpretation of Bud- 
dhism in supposed harmony with the teachings of 



ii6 MODERN JAPAN 

modern science and philosophy. Says Dr. Gulick,* 
a leading Christian missionary : 

"The ChristianizatiQn of Japan is an enterprise 
the magnitude of which probably no one adequately 
appreciates. It involves not only the presentation 
of the Gospel to the forty or fifty millions who have 
not as yet heard it, — that were a relatively easy 
thing to do, — it involves in addition the thorough- 
going discussion of the respective postulates of 
Buddhist, Confucian, Shinto and Christian faiths. 
Convincing evidence must be offered of the supe- 
riority of Christianity in providing rational founda- 
tion for moral and spiritual life. As yet it can not 
be said that the great debate between Christianity 
and the other faiths in regard to fundamentals has 
more than begun. The thoughtful men of the na- 
tion, its university professors and political leaders, 
are saying with practical unanimity that, while 
Christian morality is excellent in daily life, Chris- 
tian philosophy and metaphysics are weak and Chris- 
tian ethical theories insufficiently grounded. 

"Although it is beyond question that Western 
democratic civilization has influenced Japan pro- 
foundly and brought her into harmony with Chris- 
tian principles in many important respects, yet it is 
also true that the Christian view of the universe 
and of men is either unknown to, or consciously 
rejected by, the vast majority of her educated men. 
They profess either agnosticism, like so many in the 
West, or Buddhism, which means usually a vague, 
pantheistic philosophy. To Christianize Japan, her 
thoughtful leaders must be brought to see the ra- 

*Cited in the Christian Movement for 1913, pages 165 ff. 



CHRISTIANITY 117 

tional and moral weakness inherent in Buddhism 
and the superiority of Christianity in these respects, 
and also to accept personally the moral and spir- 
itual leadership of Jesus."* 



IV 



Many of the Japanese Christians seek to free 
themselves from the influence or control of foreign 
missionaries; some have backslid; others are 
merely nominally Christian; many advocate what 
they call a Japanized or Japanicized Christianity. 
Naturally we ask what is meant by a Japanized 
Christianity ? 

In the first place, what is most ardently desired 
is apparently a Christianity free from foreign influ- 
ence or control — a national or independent church. 
The Japanese have been remarkably free from sec- 
tarian differences and hostilities. Even the antip- 
athy which once existed between Buddhists and 



*Dr. Gulick adds: "In the divine Providence, Japan has 
been brought to a unique place among the non-Christian 
nations. She first of them all is attempting to establish a 
civilization practically Christian. But she is attempting this 
without accepting either the underlying postulates or the con- 
scious faith on which that civilization has been built." This 
tribute is perhaps unique as coming from a foreign mission- 
ary. But the assumption which Dr. Gulick and so many 
other missionaries make that "constitutional government, pop- 
ular education, daily press, publishing houses, modern juris- 
prudence, postal and telegraph systems," etc., are essentially 
Christian, seems strained, to say the least. 



ii8 MODERN JAPAN 

Shintoists on the one hand and Christians on the 
other has largely disappeared. The Japanese are 
naturally tolerant and, with the exception of certain 
sects like the Niche ren, are fairly free from all forms 
of religious bigotry or fanaticism. 

The Japanese attach little importance to matters 
of creed or doctrinal differences of any sort. They 
are not strongly attached to fixed beliefs or ortho- 
doxies of any kind. Alany of them have accepted 
what in Western America at least would be re- 
garded as the most radical, if not heretical, teach- 
ing. For example, the Reverend Ibuka, principal 
of the Meiji Gakiiinj^ an important Presbyterian 
college in Tokyo, in speaking of the changes in in- 
centive to mission work, is reported to have said 
that Japanese Christians had dropped from their 
vocabularies such words as heaven, hell, the future 
life, eternity and the soul. For these they have 
substituted such words as home, character, society, 
love and social reform. Whereas formerly it was 
the object of mission work to save men from eter- 
nal punishment, its purpose now is to civilize those 
who are still uncivilized. 

The claim is frequently made that just as this 
people have modified and adapted Buddhism to their 
spiritual needs, largely ignoring its pessimism, as- 
ceticism and spirit of other worldliness; so they 



*See Japan Mail (weekly) for May 28, 1910. For similar 
expressions, see Lawton, The Bfftpires of the Bast, volume I, 

chapter xxiv. 



CHRISTIANITY 119 

are free to Japanicize Christianity, rejecting the 
latter's theology, strange doctrines, mysteries and 
superstitions. Is it not the mission of the Japanese 
to fuse and harmonize everything — to accept the 
good and reject the evil in all things? 

It is not true, as sometimes claimed, that the Jap- 
anese are irreligious or even indifferent in their 
attitude toward things religious, though it seems to 
be a fact that in this as in other respects they are, 
like the Chinese, very pragmatic. Truth and virtue 
appear to this people primarily as means of national 
development rather than as ends in themselves. Be- 
cause of dissatisfaction with moral, social and po- 
litical conditions, there has been manifest during 
recent years a desire for a new or improved religion. 
It is claimed that there are a large number of non- 
affiliated Christians who have accepted Christ as a 
sort of moral or spiritual guide and who seek to 
practise His gospel as embodied in the Sermon on 
the Mount, much as a Roman of the Stoic School 
might be supposed to have regarded himself as a 
follower of Epictetus or Marcus Aurelius. There 
are many others who try to combine the best of the 
teachings of Buddha, Christ and Confucius as a 
source of inspiration or a guide to conduct. 

An interesting attempt to aid in "breaking down 
the barriers of race and nationality," encourage a 
"better understanding between the East and the 
West" and "promote the progress of civilization by 
international co-operation" is that inaugurated by 



I20 MODERN JAPAN 

the ^Association Concordia, formed in 19 13, and 
including in its membership a number of the most 
eminent publicists and men of action in Japan as 
well as a few distinguished foreign missionaries. 
The object of this organization, as explained in the 
prospectus, is not to fuse the religions of the Orient 
and Occident or to propagate personal views or par- 
ticular faiths ; "its sole aim is to study the thought 
of the world, whether ancient or modem, Eastern 
or Western, in a spirit of fairness and candor, and 
thus to foster a deeper mutual sympathy and respect 
on the part of the representatives of the two great 
civilizations which, as has been said, are destined 
to flow together in one mighty current." 

The first enterprise of the association, so it was 
announced several years ago, was to have been the 
publication of a review "devoted to the study of the 
various problems in the fields of religion, philosophy, 
ethics, sociology, education, literature, etc." Plans 
were also formulated to give lecture courses, for the 
publication of various sorts of literature, for open- 
ing the way for the interchange of visits of distin- 
guished scholars representing the best thought of the 
East and the West, and for international conferences. 



But we would not wish to be understood as main- 
taining that the Christian movement in Japan has 
wholly failed. If it has not been as successful as in 



CHRISTIANITY 121 

Korea, that has been mainly due to less favorable 
conditions, such as the greater strength of Bud- 
dhism and the spirit of nationalism. But even in 
Japan the leaven of Christianity, the work of the 
numerous missions, and the influence of leading 
missionaries is still a powerful influence for good, 
more especially in the fields of education and social 
reform. 

The pioneer work of such men as Brown, Hep- 
burn, Verbeck, WilHams and Dr. Greene can never 
be forgotten. The founding of Doshisha University 
by Dr. Nakamura was particularly important. The 
educational work of the numerous mission schools, 
more especially in calling the attention of the Japa- 
nese to the importance of education for girls, has 
been of the highest value. In fact, the modern mis- 
sionary of the best type in Japan, as, indeed through- 
out the Orient generally, is essentially an educator 
— an envoy of the West to the East, representing 
certain intellectual and spiritual ideals of Western 
civilization which are largely misrepresented by its 
commercial and official representatives. This edu- 
cational role of the missionaries is too frequently 
overlooked by many of those who have little sym- 
pathy with, or perhaps appreciation of, some of their 
purely religious or propagandist activities. 

In one field — that of social welfare work — the 
missionaries have an almost virgin field — an oppor- 
tunity for cultivation too little appreciated even by 
themselves or their supporters. The Japanese have 



122 MODERN JAPAN 

been very slow to see the importance of such work. 
Until quite recently, for example, lepers have every- 
where obtruded themselves upon the public in Japan. 
It was left for a Christian woman, a Miss Riddell, 
to begin in 1890 the application of a proper remedy 
— lepers' hospitals — ^to this state of affairs. Many 
other forms of social welfare work, such as orphan- 
ages, schools for the blind, deaf and dumb, homes 
for discharged prisoners, maternity hospitals and 
kindergartens owe there inception to Christian 
workers. 

The Japanese Y. M. C. A., though not compar- 
able in the extent of its educational and other activi- 
ties with that of China, is doing excellent work, 
more especially in establishing much needed student 
homes or hotels in some of the leading educational 
centers, including the Imperial University at Tokyo. 
The Y. W. C. A. is similarly engaged in Bible study 
and establishing hostels for girls. The W. C. T. U., 
under Christian auspices, is devoting itself to the 
reform of abandoned women and many other kinds 
of social service, as well as to temperance propa- 
ganda. The Salvation Army, backed by Christian 
workers in general, has conducted several vigorous 
campaigns against the social evil, more particu- 
larly against the notoriously disgraceful conditions 
existing in the Yoshiwara or licensed quarter of 
Tokyo. Taken as a whole, the Christian workers 
of Japan are becoming more alive to the importance 
of social welfare work as well as the salvation of 



CHRISTIANITY 123 

the individual soul, and are beginning to feel the 
need of trained social workers in the various fields 
of activity. Some of them are even turning their 
attention to the wretched conditions of factory 
life, and are urging remedial or preventive legisla- 
tion. In other words, they are beginning to see 
that in the modern industrial world Christianity of 
the old individualistic type must be supplemented by 
a knowledge of social conditions and environment, 
and that scientific method, diagnosis and prescrip- 
tion are as necessary in the work of prevention and 
cure as are the Christian virtues of faith, hope and 
love. 



CHAPTER VIII 

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT OF JAPAN 
I 

With the awakening of Japan and her struggle 
for international recognition arose the need for ex- 
panding trade and for industrial readjustment. 
Japan realized that in order to develop her people 
and country along progressive lines she must create 
possibilities for greater well-being. If she wished 
to build schools and railroads and maintain a sub- 
stantial army and navy, the people must pay for 
them. Obviously more wealth must be created. 
This could not be accomplished merely by developing 
domestic trade; foreign commerce must be devel- 
oped as well. So in order that she might keep pace 
with her other lines of progress Japan plunged into 
industrial activity and the struggle for world mar- 
kets. Scores of foreign mechanical engineers and 
experts were employed by the Government to teach 
the people methods of organizing business and of 
exploiting their natural resources and mechanical 
arts. Hundreds of students were sent to Europe 
and America to study Occidental methods of for- 
estry, mining, manufacturing, shipbuilding and busi- 
ness organization. In the course of a few years 

124 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 125 

this accumulation of knowledge was applied to the 
industrial readjustment of Japan. 

Meanwhile the Japanese Government fostered in- 
dustrial initiative and enterprise; in short, anything 
that would enable capital quickly to develop native 
industries and to force an opening into the world 
markets was encouraged. 

The results were stupendous. The mining of coal, 
zinc, copper, sulphur, magnesia and other ores and 
metals was prosecuted vigorously. Laws governing 
the exploitation of these products were passed. 
Docks, harbors and an adequate fleet of merchant 
vessels were built, largely by private capital. In 
order to assure and encourage a marine business, 
merchant vessels were subsidized by the Government 
with the stipulation that such vessels be put in the 
service of the Government in case of war. Further- 
more, manufactories, great and small, equipped with 
Western machinery, sprang up mushroom-like all 
over Japan, so that we have to-day a unique situation 
paralleled probably nowhere else in the world. Side 
by side with established modem machine methods 
combined with the soulless scramble in competitive 
trade, one still sees the widespread use of the hand- 
loom and other primitive implements for spinning, 
weaving, dyeing and designing. In fact, while the 
foreign trade of Japan is almost wholly in machine- 
made articles, a universal demand perseveres among 
all classes of the Japanese themselves for new and 
original patterns, weaves and color combinations 



126 MODERN JAPAN 

which will doubtless preserve the hand-looms and 
the hand-made articles for years to come. 

Yet withal, in her larger industrial development, 
Japan has had serious handicaps, inasmuch as she 
has very little skilled labor, comparatively little iron 
and produces no wool or cotton. This implies the 
importation of vast quantities of machinery, pig 
iron and all her cotton and wool and many other 
raw materials; also the necessity of competing in 
the world markets with products made by more 
skilled hands and better paid labor than her own. 
In a word, Japan is self-supporting only in the 
preparation of her national liquors, in soya brewing 
and the manufacture of silk, matches, porcelains 
and a few other articles; while her factories, min- 
ing, printing and many other trades are still worked 
with foreign machinery. 



II 



The two most important minerals of Japan are 
coal and copper. There are large deposits of an- 
thracite, although a brown bituminous of good qual- 
ity is the predominant coal. With the acquisition 
of certain rights in Manchuria, Japan has added 
other rich deposits, so that according to her geolog- 
ical surveys her complete supply of coal is enormous ; 
her annual output averaging now over twenty-one 
million tons. 

Copper is also abundant and is now being mined 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 127 

in every district in the country. The total output 
annually approaches forty-three million yen in value. 
Japan to-day ranks third among copper-producing 
nations. 

Petroleum and sulphur are perhaps second in im- 
portance. While the present yield of petroleum is 
not extensive, due to inadequate capitalization and 
prospecting, yet the survey has revealed a narrow 
petroliferous strata extending throughout the coun- 
try following the western coast of islands from 
Karafuto to Taiwan. 

Sulphur would naturally be found in a volcanic 
country like Japan, and it has been one of her oldest 
exports, having been shipped to Holland and China 
as early as the fifteenth century. 

Gold and silver are also fairly abundant. The 
total annual yield of gold amounts to over seven 
billion yen, while silver does not exceed fifty-one 
million, though the output of both is steadily in- 
creasing. 

Zinc, and a small amount of lead and tin, are 
found, but for lack of suitable smelting machinery 
the zinc ores have been shipped to Germany for 
refining. 

Iron is also found, but in quantities wholly in- 
sufficient to supply the pressing needs of Japan, 
amounting only to about three and one-half million 
annually. Thus far the bulk of her raw material for 
producing pig iron has been imported from the 
Taiyo mines in China. The urgent demand for 



128 MODERN JAPAN 

this raw material accounts partly for Japan's keen 
desire to acquire a foothold in China. 

Thus it may readily be seen that the exploitation 
of the minerals and metals of Japan has kept abreast 
of her other industrial activities. There are now 
in the country about 9,500 mines and about 229,308 
mine workers. While Japan has prosecuted her 
mining with considerable vigor, she has also made 
wise, legal provisions and established a system of 
inspection which conserves her natural resources, 
most carefully. 

Under these laws the owner of the land does not 
own the mineral rights. Such rights belong to the 
State. The right of prospecting is granted to the 
first applicant. A land owner in default of applying 
first for prospecting privileges may be supplanted 
on his own land by another. 

The privilege of mining may not extend over 
less than forty-one acres and more than eight hun- 
dred and twenty acres. Prospecting rights are 
granted for two years from the date of registration. 
A mine in operation pays an annual tax of one per 
cent, on the value of the products, excepting gold, 
silver and iron ores. 

When mining operations interfere with the own- 
er's use of the surface, a certain amount of land is 
requisitioned for the use of the concessionaire, who 
in turn must lease the surface; or if the owner so 
desires, the concessionaire must purchase the use of 
the land he requires for not less than three years. 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 129 

In case of disputes arising they must be submitted 
to the mining inspector. Should his decision be 
regarded as unsatisfactory, an appeal may be made 
by the parties concerned to the Minister of Agricul- 
ture, or in case of further disputes, to the ordinary 
courts of law. 

Five mining inspection offices have been estab- 
lished which exercise control over such matters as 
ventilation, construction and the use of explosives. 
Each concessionaire must prepare and submit to the 
inspection office a set of rules for his workmen, 
stating the number of working hours, the nature of 
the work, the scale of compensation in case of in- 
jury, etc. This is to prevent harsh treatment of 
the workmen by the employers and thus to lessen 
the chances of disturbances. 

Until 1900 a foreigner was not permitted to par- 
ticipate in a mining venture. Since then a foreigner 
enjoys equal privileges with a native if the com- 
pany is formed by native Japanese. However, the 
mining regulations of 1905 empower the Minister 
of Agriculture and Commerce to grant, cancel or 
suspend mining or prospecting rights and also to 
delegate part of his authority to the mine inspection 
officials. 

Although some of the mining in Japan is estab- 
lished and conducted in a first class up-to-date man- 
ner, much is still belated and inefficient, due to the 
use of antiquated machinery and to the lack of capi- 
tal to develop the mine properties. 



I30 MODERN JAPAN 

III 

In her process of industrial expansion Japan has 
developed and improved many other industries be- 
sides mining. Forestry and fishing of every variety 
have been encouraged. At present no less than a 
million families are engaged in the various fishing 
enterprises. In 1897 the Government took over the 
Fishing Training School established by the Japanese 
Fishing Association, and since then has done much 
to instruct and train those engaged in this industry. 

In matters of forestry and re-forestration Japan 
has been no less alert and progressive. The Japa- 
nese have always guarded their forests. Perhaps no 
other people in the world has such an innate love 
of trees, such a sympathetic appreciation of their 
beauty, and the quality of the various woods, their 
grain and their possible utility. Since a very early 
period the Japanese have been taught to safeguard 
their forests, and they have not been allowed to cut 
recklessly or without special permission. Early forest 
laws were passed both by the provincial governors 
and by the Central Government as well. Commis^ 
sioners of forestry and subordinate officials were 
appointed who oversaw the cutting of timber and 
the replanting of saplings when trees were cut. 

During the struggles of the Middle Ages the con- 
tending factions often resorted to fire or pillage, 
although the forests in which temples or shrines had 
been built were usually respected ; consequently, tem- 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 131 

pies and shrines were commonly built with a view 
to keeping the forests sacred and to protecting them 
from all forms of abuses. Doubtless this attitude 
of respect for the woods and trees has subtly influ- 
enced and helped to mould the Japanese character. 

At present the wooded land of Japan constitutes 
about seventy per cent, of the entire area or 54,164,- 
786 acres, and over half of it is owned by the State. 
Much of this forest is more or less inaccessible, due 
to the very mountainous nature of the country. 

Previous to the Restoration of 1868 all effort 
was directed toward preserving the forests in their 
primitive state, but with the sudden and steadily 
growing demands for timber in shipbuilding, rail- 
road supplies, telephone and telegraph poles, there 
resulted some reckless cutting. However, the Grov- 
ernment proceeded promptly to correct or regulate 
this abuse and to study more scientific methods of 
conservation, replanting, and the utilization of the 
by-products of the forests. Trees have been plant- 
ed to prevent soil denudation, sand shifting, floods, 
avalanches and as a means of protection against 
winds and tides ; also as a means of feeding springs, 
attracting fish and to compose "scenery." Scientific 
methods have been adopted of utilizing by-products, 
such as the underbrush and grasses for fuel and f er- 
tiHzers, the seeds and acorns for producing oils and 
waxes, the barks of various trees for tanning and 
dyeing, and the stones for building, landscape gar- 
dening and the manufacture of pottery. 



132 MODERN JAPAN 

This is typical of the thrift of the Japanese and 
of their progressive point of view and teachable- 
ness. When contrasted with the laxity and waste- 
fulness of the natural resources in our own country, 
and with the pitiable results in wasted, denuded 
lands and consequent famine, floods and innumer- 
able other evils, resulting from wastefulness and 
neglect in China, one feels that we have much to 
learn from the Japanese. 

The revenue in Japan derived from the products 
and by-products of the forests amounted in 19 lo to 
over ten million yen, though the expenses were 
heavy and left a net revenue of only seven million 
yen. In five years the productivity of the forests 
increased over sixty per cent. 

The State forests are managed by the Government 
through the Imperial Household Department, and 
over the peoples' forests the Government exercises 
a supervision in accordance with the forest laws. 

At present there are over sixty institutions in 
which forestry is taught. Some of these schools 
are devoted to the exclusive teaching of forestry, 
but in forty-eight the subject is taught subsidiary 
to other major subjects. 

There is perhaps no better illustration of Japan's 
efficient conservation methods than in connection 
with her production of camphor. Since 1899 the 
camphor business has been a government monopoly. 
Japan to-day leads in the world's supply of this com- 
modity. 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 133 

Previously the refiners used only such portions 
of the trees as yielded the largest amount of cam- 
phor at a minimum of expense and effort. The re- 
sult was over-production and such very low prices 
that the refiners were scarcely able to pay the tax 
upon it. Every effort is now made to conserve the 
supply, and prevent the previous waste, over-pro- 
duction and adulteration. At present the refiners 
sell their product to the Government at the price de- 
termined by the market. 

It is roughly estimated that the present supply of 
camphor trees may last forty or fifty years, though 
it is hoped the supply may be made permanent by 
continuous planting. Already the Government has 
set out millions of young camphor plants. 

Salt is also a government monopoly, produced 
mostly in Fonnosa and shipped in large quantities 
to Japan proper. It is hoped that in time salt will 
be produced in even greater quantities than at pres- 
ent. 



lY 



Many of the newer industries of Japan owe their 
inception to the Government. The idea in initiat- 
ing these enterprises was to demonstrate to the peo- 
ple how such industries might be developed, how 
trade might be expedited and expanded. Between 
1 880- 1 883 most of these government enterprises 
were sold to private companies, although a few were 



134 MODERN JAPAN 

retained, such as works which suppHed the military 
stores, steel foundries, the mint, printing offices and 
still others, like the tobacco, soya, salt, sake and cam- 
phor. In 1907 the railroads were nationalized and 
it is thought that in time insurance, matches and 
sugar may also be taken over by the Government. 

It would appear from the nationalization of so 
many industries that the Japanese were strongly 
inclined to Socialism. As a matter of fact the Gov- 
ernment is almost foolishly hostile to any and all 
Socialistic propaganda as such. The nationalized 
industries have been taken over, not with a view to 
serving the public with a first rate commodity, pro- 
duced under ideal labor conditions and careful man- 
agement, but solely with the purpose of obtaining a 
large revenue. The salt business alone nets the 
Government a profit of ten million yen annually, 
and the tobacco monopoly over fifty million yen. 

During a period of twenty-five years the export 
trade of Japan has increased thirteen fold until now 
it approximates one billion yen. The United States 
is Japan's best customer, taking at least one-third of 
her complete output. China ranks second, and 
Great Britain third. 

The leading exports are raw silks, cotton, yarns, 
matches, fancy matting, tea, camphor, marine pro- 
ducts, coffee and coal. In the textile industries 
the manufacture and export of silk ranks first. In 
fact silk covers one-third of her whole export trade. 
In silk-raising Japan ranks second to China, which 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 135 

leads the world. Over two and a half million fami- 
lies are now engaged in this occupation, many select- 
ing it as an avocation in connection with farming 
or fishing. The United States takes two-thirds of 
Japan's whole output of raw silk. 

Among the textile industries cotton ranks second 
in importance. The raw material has been pur- 
chased chiefly from China and India. Formerly 
considerable amounts were purchased from the 
United States, but during recent years purchases 
from the United States decreased steadily while those 
from China and India more than doubled. 

Through the opening of the Panama Canal, Japan 
has been somewhat stimulated to increase her cot- 
ton purchases in the United States, though our cot- 
ton trade with Japan is still far less than formerly. 
American cotton has been largely supplanted by 
the cheaper and poorer grades from India and 
Eg}^pt, but there is still a field for increased 
sales of finer cottons if the trade possibilities were 
properly studied and wisely handled. Since 1891 
the total value of raw cotton annually imported into 
Japan has increased from eighty million to one hun- 
dred and sixty million yen. 

At present Korea is growing a little cotton, and 
government experts now predict that if all the suit- 
able waste and inferior agricultural lands in Korea 
were planted in cotton there would be a total of 
one hundred and seventy-five thousand acres with 
an annual yield of one hundred thousand bales. 



136 MODERN JAPAN 

Experts further maintain that the spinning busi- 
ness in Japan is now organized upon Hnes which 
clearly indicate a determination to obtain a place of 
predominance in this industry. The spinners and 
weavers are closely affiliated, ajid the Gk)vernment 
has given such encouragement as will counterbalance 
the disadvantages which Japan may have in com- 
peting with other countries. Already the sales of 
British and American cotton fabrics have been 
largely supplanted in Manchuria and have decreased 
considerably in many parts of Qiina, while the sales 
of Japanese goods have been steadily increasing, 
even during periods of financial depression. In a 
word, British and American manufacturers are now 
competing for markets against State-aided enter- 
prises. In order to assist these vast trade and in- 
dustrial activities, the Japanese Government has 
been forced to borrow heavily from other nations, 
chiefly from England, w^here she has procured mon- 
ey at a low rate of interest not exceeding five per 
cent. Thus we have the curious anomaly of West- 
em nations, chiefly England, furnishing Japan with 
cheap money in order that she may supplant the 
trade of England and other nations in Oriental and 
even Occidental markets. Clearly Japan has not 
failed to learn Western methods of "big business," 
and it is interesting to note how she is quietly but 
surely beating the Westerner at his own "game." 

Japanese experts themselves maintain that in 
time they will dominate the Oriental trade in the 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 137 

coarser cotton threads, although they do not hope 
to compete in the finer threads. This should fur- 
nish a good suggestion for American cotton manu- 
facturers. 

V 

Perhaps in no line of industrial enterprise has 
Japan become quite so efficient as in developing 
her merchant marine by purchasing and building 
vessels, by extending and increasing steam routes, 
by securing favorable trade treaties and by sending 
experts to foreign countries to study trade methods, 
industrial conditions and opportunities for wedging 
in Japanese goods. 

In 1 87 1 the Japanese merchant marine comprised 
only forty-six ships with a tonnage of 17,948. By 
1 9 14 the gross tonnage of steamers amounted to 
1,538,000 and that of sailing vessels to 494,000.* 

For the encouragement of shipping and ship- 
building the Government long since established a 
system of paying bounties and subsidies. Until 
191 o a ship of from seven hundred to one thousand 
tons gross, manufactured of iron or steel, approved 
after authorized inspection, received twelve yen for 
every ten tons gross and a ship of one thousand tons 
gross and upwards received twenty yen. If the 
engines of the steamer as well as the vessel itself 
were of Japanese manufacture, five yen extra per 
unit of horse-power were granted. A subsidy was 

*See Japan Year Book for 1916, page 509. 



138 MODERN JAPAN 

also given of twenty-five sen (twelve and one-half 
cents) per ton gross for every one thousand miles 
traveled by a ship of one thousand tons gross with 
a full speed of ten knots; ten per cent, extra for 
every five hundred tons gross ; and twenty per cent, 
additional for every additional knot above ten knots 
speed. 

New laws came into force covering the period 
1910 to 1914 which required that subsidized vessels 
be home-built steel steamers of over three thousand 
tons gross, not more than fifteen years old and hav- 
ing a speed of twelve nautical miles per hour. The 
rate of subsidy for such vessels was fifty sen or less 
per ton gross for every one thousand nautical miles 
with an extra ten per cent, of the above sum for an 
additional speed of a nautical mile per hour. 

For foreign built vessels imder five years old put 
on service with the sanction of the authorities, only 
half the subsidy was allowed. For vessels built 
according to special plans approved by the Govern- 
ment, an extra twenty-five per cent, of the shipping 
subsidy was granted. The subsidy was reduced on 
a graduated scale for older vessels. 

Since 19 14 many of the subsidies have been still 
further reduced, as the shipping lines have become 
well established and prosperous. Besides bounties 
and subsidies other inducements have been offered 
to encourage shipbuilding as well as other industrial 
enterprises. Money was loaned to the banks so 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 139 

they in turn could loan at as low as two per cent, to 
assist worthy enterprises. 

Clearly such inducements furnished a tremendous 
stimulus to Japanese shipbuilding, so that to-day 
Japan is building large and excellent steel ships of 
twenty thousand tons and over. As early as 1904 
there were already sixty-two ship companies, besides 
many individual ship owners, and the number has 
been steadily increasing. In 19 14 there were four- 
teen ships built with a total tonnage of 66,329, while 
in 191 5 orders were placed for fifty-one ships with 
a total tonnage of 212,100. 

The two most important lines are the Nippon 
Yusen Kaisha and the Toyo Kisen Kaisha. The pas- 
senger service on some of the Japanese lines in 
details of comfort, such as cleanliness, good food 
and personal service, at a moderate price, are prob- 
ably second to none in the world. By many who 
have traveled upon various boats of the best estab- 
lished Japanese lines, the service has been pro- 
nounced unsurpassed. 

The freight service, we are told, is no less effi- 
cient and reasonable in cost, due, it appears, to the 
study and careful management of all details — pre- 
cisely the secret of the excellence in tlie passenger 
service. 

"So efficient has the Japanese shipping service 
become," remarked a British sea-captain, who has 
sailed the Eastern seas for twenty years and has 



I4Q MODERN JAPAN 

made a careful study of shipping matters, "that if 
the British do not soon wake up and improve their 
belated methods, they will no longer be able to com- 
pete with the Japanese in Eastern waters." 

Besides the regular subsidized lines, there are 
many so-called outside lines and thousands of 
tramp-boats engaged in regular coasting service or 
in over-sea trade getting a foothold in China, India, 
South America, Australia and the remotest sea is- 
lands. Indeed, it is claimed that Japanese ships 
are found in every open port and river in China. 
Besides, Japan possesses an enormous mosquito fleet 
composed of junks and small steamers plying every- 
where in Chinese waters, all of this contributing 
much to the common purpose of expanding Japanese 
trade. 

The coastwise trade of Japan is forbidden to all 
steamers not under the national flag, though by 
treaty arrangement some ocean-going steamers car- 
rying passengers are given freight-carrying privi- 
leges. 

A number of schools for the training of marine 
officers have been established, the most useful one 
of which is the Tokyo Mercantile Marine College. 
Besides these schools, there are various marine asso- 
ciations for the mutual benefit and instruction of 
their members. 

Another factor which must not be overlooked in 
its tremendous benefits to Japanese trade is the 
Panama Canal. A passage through this canal 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 141 

shortens the journey between Yokohama and New 
York — Japan's largest tea and silk market — by 
twelve days. This naturally insures a great saving 
of freight and will faciliate a wider Japanese- 
American trade. 

But, in spite of this great increase in trade, 
up to 191 5 the imports have exceeded the exports. 
In 19 1 3 the export trade amounted to 632,460,213 
yen ; the excess of imports was more than 97,000,000 
yen. In 1914 the exports totaled 591,101,461 yen 
while the excess of imports was only 4,634,244 yen. 
The European war has naturally brought about con- 
siderable commercial irregularity which resulted in 
an excess of exports for the first time in the ex- 
perience of modern Japan; these exports totaling 
682,095,000 yen while the imports amounted only 
to 518,653,000 yen, making the export excess 163,- 
442,000 yen, and this excess is constantly on the 
increase. 



VI 



There has been and still is much discussion and 
difference of opinion concerning the business customs 
and conditions of Japan. Be this as it may, there is 
no doubt that the ethics of trade in Japan during 
the past fifteen years has undergone a process of 
rehabilitation and improvement quite in keeping 
with her progress in trade. While the old Samurai 
Code was strict and exacting upon many points of 



142 MODERN JAPAN 

honor, at the same time it sanctioned double-dealing 
more or less. Indirect methods were preferable to 
direct methods and so persistently was this empha- 
sized in conduct that the language developed along 
lines which made it nearly impossible to put a point 
in a direct, straightforward manner, or to make a 
contract which could not be evaded. 

In feudal times, merchants were classed lowest 
in the social hierarchy. Barter for gain was de- 
spised and condemned as a low practice. Naturally, 
with such a stigma upon business occupations, only 
the lowest classes of people engaged in them. Prior 
to the Restoration the great masses of the Japanese 
people were very poor, living on a minimum scale, 
with wretched food, scant clothing and bad housing. 
With the awakening of the whole nation came a 
general desire for better and more food and cloth- 
ing, for travel, education and diversion. Since 
money only can procure these advantages, a desire 
for money and respect for gainful occupations began 
to increase. But business methods were not in- 
cluded in the Japanese code of morality and natur- 
ally, with their pressing new desires, the people did 
not always resist the many temptations opening up 
before them. 

When Japanese goods first found their way into 
foreign markets they were so pleasing and satisfac- 
tory that orders were promptly sent in for additional 
supplies. Then it was that adulteration, shortage in 
w^eights and lengths, substitution of inferior mate- 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 143 

rials and defective workmanship became common, 
in fact, so common that the Japanese people readily 
gained the reputation of being knaves and tricksters. 

And not only did they resort to the simpler prac- 
tices of adulteration, short weights and measures, 
but they soon began to develop subtler practices like 
making inferior imitations of standard and well- 
established European goods. In time trade-mark 
piracy became a widespread practice, and China as 
well as Japan was flooded with the inferior pirated 
articles. Naturally, this despicable practice added 
greatly to Japanese business disrepute, and it re- 
mained uncorrected until 1909 after the combined 
diplomatic pressure of the great Western manu- 
facturers was brought to bear upon the Japa- 
nese Government. Even the present law provides 
protection to the owner of a trade-mark only in case 
that mark has been registered in Japan previous to 
the registering of the pirated mark, and a protest 
must be made against such piracy within three years 
after the owner has registered. This, it may readily 
be seen, does not insure a very great degree of pro- 
tection to the foreigner. 

In the subtler mal-practices of business, trade-mark 
piracy had companion practices. A merchant would 
contract for shipments of foreign goods and when 
they arrived, if the markets were depressed or if he 
thought he might force down the original price by 
leaving the goods on the shipper's hands in Japanese 
ports, the purchaser would not hesitate to repudiate 



144 MODERN JAPAN 

his contract. By this methcKi he could frequently 
repurchase the goods he had originally ordered at a 
much reduced figure. 

This and other similar dishonorable and despic- 
able practices became quite common during the 
earlier years of Japanese trade development — prac- 
tices no worse and not so different from the 
early Yankee methods, some substantial remnants of 
which — not even excepting trade-mark piracy — 
American business still retains. But naturally such 
unsavory business methods brought in time all Jap- 
anese merchants and merchandise into disrepute. 
[The honest suffered as well as the dishonest, and 
Japanese goods, which had so quickly become pop- 
ular in the markets, suddenly began to be regarded 
with disfavor, and orders did not increase as they 
should. It was the realization of these facts which 
led the Japanese Government in 1884 to take action 
to organize and control business with a view to stim- 
ulating legitimate enterprises and putting an end to 
disreputable methods which unquestionably have 
done great damage to Japanese trade. This action 
resulted in the organization of trade guilds. These 
guilds, backed by the Gk)vernment, decreed that Jap- 
anese goods should be examined before they were 
allowed to leave the country, and if short weight or 
measure, adulteration or substitution of inferior 
materials was discovered, drastic punishment would 
follow. In some cases quantities of condemned 
goods were burned publicly merely to show to the 



INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT 145 

world that trade dishonesty would no longer be per- 
mitted. The result of this drastic action has been 
that trade methods have been greatly improved and 
trade guilds have become a factor of tremendous 
importance. They had so multiplied that by 19 14 
there were 916 commercial guilds established with a 
membership of more than a million, though in all 
there were over six thousand guilds, including those 
dealing with agriculture, fishing and forestry. 

In 1 90 1 legislation was enacted which provided 
for the amalgamation of credit, purchasing, sales 
and production guilds. This was an effort on the 
part of the Government to control business. In 
various ways the government authorities keep in 
constant touch with the guilds; give them expert 
advice on occasion; and discuss with them subjects 
of mutual advantage. When struggling enterprises 
are in need of assistance, the Government makes 
grants of money to stimulate them, and when nec- 
essary uses its power to induce them to act in ac- 
cordance with the best interests of the nation. In- 
deed, these guilds are nothing more nor less than 
powerful trusts supported by the Government. In 
addition to the industrial guilds there are fifty-four 
chambers of commerce scattered throughout the 
country, their purpose being to discuss and improve 
methods for developing trade. Bounties are also 
granted by the Government to assist various enter- 
prises, and money at low interest Is often loaned for 
the same purpose. 



146 MODERN JAPAN 

Obviously foreign competition with Japanese 
trade is not competition with individuals or corpora- 
tions ; it is competition of American or European or 
other individuals or corporations with the Japanese 
Government. 

In a word, the Japanese Government which is so 
hostile to Socialism for the laboring classes has, 
with the possible exception of Germany, adopted 
more Socialistic methods than any other nation in 
the interest of the exploiters of capital and industry. 

Some critics of Japanese methods contemplate 
with alarm the great advantages which such meth- 
ods give to Japanese industries competing in the 
world markets. Others maintain that the principle 
of taxing the whole people to endow and subsidize 
capitalistic interests is unsound and pernicious and 
can not persist. The reply to the latter criticism by 
the authorities responsible for such methods — ^how- 
ever fallacious the retort may be — is that it has 
worked satisfactorily and that the rapid expansion 
of trade has brought excellent returns to the whole 
people, enabling all classes to pay the taxes and to 
live on a much improved scale; consequently, there 
is no protest against it. Moreover, the authorities 
doubtless feel that by combining this method of the 
government subsidy and supervision of trade with 
efficient methods of production and obtaining mar- 
kets, they have a certain dominant advantage which 
leaves them nothing to fear in competing with the 
present-day individualistic methods of other nations. 



CHAPTER IX 

SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 



With the sudden and rapid increase in the de- 
velopment of Japan's natural resources and the es- 
tablishment of many new industries on a large 
scale, numerous changes have come about and many 
evils have developed in the social and economic life 
of the people. 

When Japan began to cast about for a world- 
wide trade she knew she must compete with the 
highly specialized industrialism of the Western 
world, and in order to do this quickly she must 
necessarily adopt the methods and machinery of 
her competitors. 

Yet she was still greatly handicapped, inasmuch 
as capital was scarce and could be had only at exor- 
bitant rates and there was no labor skilled in modern 
methods. Therefore, her only chance of competing 
seemed to be by selling cheap goods made by cheap 
unskilled labor. As previously stated, the Govern- 
ment tried to aid various approved enterprises as 
much as possible. Some were established outright 
and disposed of later to private corporations ; others 

147 



148 MODERN JAPAN 

were subsidized or aided by loaning capital at low 
rates of interest. Nevertheless, in spite of the stu- 
pendous efforts made by the Government, many of 
these initial enterprises either proved unprofitable 
or failed outright. 

In business management and in economy of time 
and energy there appeared to be great vi^aste and 
inefficiency. Old established business habits and 
formal customs could not easily be abandoned or re- 
constructed. The old methods were slow, easy- 
going, wasteful and, in the long run, costly. And 
not only were the hours long and wages low, but 
conditions of safety and sanitation were extremely 
poor — so poor that the rate of accidents, sickness 
and death was exceedingly high, and the material 
and machinery of the various industries were almost 
invariably inferior. In brief, most of the conditions 
of labor were belated and unsatisfactory, and many 
have not yet been greatly improved. 

Moreover, the Government appears to be con- 
vinced that if Japan wishes to hold and extend 
her markets, the workers must be paid as little as 
possible, hours must be long and holidays few. 
Naturally the Government wishes those initiating or 
taking over the various new enterprises to succeed, 
yet she has taken little thought for the welfare of 
the workers. 

The masses of the Japanese people are very poor. 
Their struggle for bare existence is terrific. The 
peasant is forced to work very hard to cultivate his 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 149 

bit of land, which is usually tied up with debt to the 
professional money-lenders at an exorbitant rate 
of interest. To live, even on a minimum scale, the 
peasant and all members of his household must 
work far into the night at subsidiary occupations, 
such as match-box, sandal or brush making, seri- 
culture and hand-loom weaving. When thousands 
of peasant children, chiefly girls, are recruited into 
the factories to work from twelve to sixteen hours 
per day, the Government excuses itself from inter- 
fering by pointing out that the hours are no longer 
than those they have been accustomed to at home. 
Such are the sophistries with which the authori- 
ties of Japan, just as the authorities of our own and 
other countries, have salved their consciences. 
Doubtless such sophistries will continue to prevail 
until workers become intelligent and enterprising 
enough to demand justice for themselves collec- 
tively. 

II 

During the past twenty years wages have more 
than doubled in Japan, but the increased demands 
of living have exceeded the advance in wages and 
the economic standards among the laboring classes 
are still so low they may scarcely be compared with 
those of Western countries. Skilled laborers, even 
now, receive only one-eighth of what laborers of the 
same class receive in America and one-third of what 



ISO MODERN JAPAN 

they receive in England, and Japanese women work- 
ers receive from one-third to one-half less than men. 
Bricklayers are among the highest paid workers, 
but their average does not exceed fifty cents a day. 

However, authorities appear to differ on the eco- 
nomic value of cheap labor. Some claim that it has 
been a great advantage in competing for trade, 
while others maintain that low economic standards 
invariably result in inferior amount and quality of 
production and that Japan is to-day suffering great- 
ly for lack of skilled, efficient labor, as well as from 
lack of equipment. It is commonly conceded that 
it takes two or three skilled Japanese to achieve as 
much as one American or European. 

Before 1867 no labor-saving devices had ever 
been employed in the mining industries. Then an 
Englishman, Erasmus Glover, and an American 
named Pumpelly first introduced the use of explo- 
sives. After the advent of the Meiji era, 1868, the 
Government took over for a time a number of the 
larger mines. Foreign mining experts were em- 
ployed, modern machinery was introduced and 
though the output of ores, metals, coal and petro- 
leum was greatly increased, nevertheless, according 
to the government reports, a number of these enter- 
prises proved to be financial failures, while others 
were sold eventually to private persons in whose 
hands, in the course of time, most of the enterprises 
prospered. But because of the great cost of out- 
fitting and of the lack of finances, the equipment is 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 151 

inadequate and inferior, the mining, in consequence, 
is not deep and is generally considered wasteful and 
dangerous. 

The miners live usually in large, ^community 
dwellings provided by the employers. Those with 
families have a separate room or two, and those 
without families live in large common rooms. 

Generally, when the mines are remote from the 
larger centers, the operators furnish provisions at a 
low price. This, it is claimed, helps to keep the 
workers satisfied and prevents them from demand- 
ing increased wages on the pretext of increased cost 
of living. This is only one of various devices em- 
ployed to keep wages low and to prevent wage- 
earners from any organized effort to improve their 
condition. 

That mining is dangerous because the provisions 
for safety are inadequate is indicated by the number 
of casualties. In 191 3 the total number of em- 
ployees at eleven of the leading mines numbered 
262,163. The total number of casualties was 35,- 
512, nearly fourteen per cent, of all the workers. 
Of this number there were 730 deaths, 889 severely 
wounded and 33,793 slightly wounded. Naturally, 
the rate would be still higher at the more poorly 
equipped mines. 

The highest wage paid per day of from eight to 
eleven hours, to men workers at the metal mines, is 
69 sen (34j^ cents) ; the lowest is 42 sen (21 cents). 
Women mine workers generally receive less than 



152 MODERN JAPAN 

half as much as the men, and children less than 
one-third. Wages at the collieries average a little 
more. 

Considerable emphasis is placed upon the aid 
given to the families of disabled and deceased work- 
ers, but upon close examination of the statistics giv- 
en one finds that the sums paid are at best scandal- 
ously paltry. Five yen (two dollars and fifty cents) 
— sometimes a little more — is the amount usually 
donated toward the funeral expenses of a deceased 
worker, injured in the mines. The amount paid 
for relief to "bereaved families" in case of death 
varies from ten to forty yen (five to twenty dollars). 
Hospital expenses are generally either shared or paid 
in full by the operators when there are no mine hos- 
pitals. 

At the better class of mines mutual aid societies 
have been established, in which monthly payments 
are made by the workers to a common relief fund. 
The operators contribute to these funds also, but 
there appears to be no uniform rule or custom regu- 
lating the operators' contributions. 

At the smaller mines there seems to be provision 
for teaching the children of the employees, while 
at the larger mines the operators either provide 
teachers for the children of the workmen or sub- 
sidize the public schools. Since many of the chil- 
dren are employed at the mines, the educational re- 
sults must be unsatisfactory. 

It is clear that many of the old feudal customs 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 153 

and feudal ethics have been carried over into mining 
as well as into other industrial pursuits. The oaths 
of chiefs and proteges swearing loyalty and obe- 
dience have been adopted by the "bosses." These 
oaths, we are informed, practically insure obedience 
to the boss whether he is right or wrong. And 
since the ''bosses" at the various mines keep in com- 
munication with one another, their power over the 
workers is very great. While they may co-operate 
to assist a faithful workman, their power to crush 
and defeat one who may be considered disloyal or 
rebellious is almost absolute. 

Ill 

For years after the introduction of modem 
mining methods the workmen appeared to be tran- 
quil and satisfied. But later their attitude seems 
to have become ominous. In the wake of the 
Chino- Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars the bur- 
dens of taxation upon all classes were extremely 
heavy and for the working classes they were almost 
unendurable. Every commodity was taxed, yet the 
Government continued its policy of making large 
army and navy appropriations. These burdens, 
coupled with the increasing opportunities of the 
capitalists for shameless exploitation of labor, at 
length drove the naturally peaceful and submissive 
Japanese proletariat to desperation. Little by little 
their desperation took form in uprisings now here, 



154 MODERN JAPAN 

now there, until by 1907 petty strikes and violent 
outbreaks of various sorts appeared to have become 
epidemic. In some cases there was ruthless burn- 
ing and destroying of industrial plants and employ- 
ers' dwellings, cutting of telephone wires, throwing 
of bombs, and employers were sometimes driven to 
flee for safety. 

Since it wished to continue its policy of heavy 
taxation for naval and military expansion, the Gov- 
ernment, instead of frankly facing the facts of the 
situation, began to cast about for some other than 
the real cause for the constantly increasing violence 
and industrial eruptions. 

A flourishing Socialistic movement which had 
been initiated about 1901 and had acquired influ- 
ence among certain classes of workmen appeared 
to offer the best pretext upon which the Government 
might focus the blame for the increasing industrial 
insurrections. 

Originally this Socialist movement was organized 
by a small group of college-bred men who met to 
study the works of Karl Marx and other Socialis- 
tic writers. They called themselves Social Demo- 
crats and inspired such alarm in the Government 
that they were soon disbanded by Count Ito and his 
Cabinet. 

In 1903 the first Socialist Congress was evoked 
at Osaka by members of the disbanded organization. 
In November a newly constituted body began pub- 
lishing the People's Journcd. Through writings and 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 155 

public meetings a few Socialists tried to rouse 
the industrial classes to organize and to make some 
concerted effort to resist the terrible abuses which 
were being imposed on them. Unquestionably these 
Socialists did vehemently denounce the militaristic 
party and their merciless policy of taxation for mili- 
tary expansion, and when the strikes occurred it 
was found in a few cases that the strike leaders 
were Socialists. 

Not only was the proletariat affected by these 
"dangerous'* doctrines, but some eminent members 
of the aristocracy had also become converts, and 
in their home provinces fearlessly proclaimed their 
ideas. All this became most alarming to the oligar- 
chic-militaristic Gk>vemment, which from the be- 
ginning had been apprehensive of a Socialistic 
movement and which now resorted to measures of 
suppression. As the movement progressed the Gov- 
ernment became more and more hostile and con- 
cluded that inasmuch as the Socialists were sowing 
seeds of discord between the workers and employ- 
ers, they were an evil influence in the country and 
must be stamped out* 

One after another of the Socialist publications 
were suppressed; a law was passed which forbade 
the formation of a political party without the con- 
sent of the Government, and police orders were 



*See Le Japan Modern, by Ludovic Nandeau, pages 239- 
244. 



156 MODERN JAPAN 

issued against holding Socialist meetings or confer- 
ences. In time a regular crusade was inaugurated 
against the whole Socialistic movement. Foreign 
publications like the works of Tolstoi, Zola, Macau- 
lay, and even Goldsmith's harmless Vicar of Wake- 
field, were put under the ban. Indeed so ridiculously 
fanatical did this crusade become at one time that 
harmless books which merely included Social in the 
title were interdicted. 

The climax to this tyranny was the arrest by the 
Government in May, 1910, of a group of twenty- 
six supposed conspirators, twenty-four of whom 
were condemned the following November and sen- 
tenced to death for lese majeste. The sentences of 
twelve of this group were later commuted to life 
imprisonment, but the remaining twelve were exe- 
cuted. 

This was apparently an effective blow to Social- 
ism in Japan and since that time the Government 
has never relaxed in its fanatical vigilance to keep 
down all propaganda of Socialistic doctrines. We 
have been informed on good authority that the prop- 
aganda is being still continued in an educational 
way, and that ultimately it will again come to the 
front in a more rational and intelligent organiza- 
tion of the working classes. 

Meanwhile the Government has expanded its mo- 
nopolistic enterprises along Socialistic lines, though 
these chiefly benefit the State and not the working 
people. 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 157 

As a result of the many petty strikes and upris- 
ings, some concessions in increased wages, and im- 
proved conditions for the workers were granted, 
but the concessions made, it was claimed, were en- 
tirely due to the "generosity of employers." 

As has been stated, some laws affecting mine labor 
have been passed, but they mainly concern mine con- 
struction, compensation, ventilation and the regula- 
tion of hours in the mines. Five mine inspection 
offices have been established, with a view to having 
regular inspection, reducing abuses and lessening 
the chances for organized disturbances. 

Yet the weight of governmental authority is still 
directed toward defending and upholding the capi- 
talistic classes and their present methods of exploit- 
ing labor. And not until the working classes be- 
come more intelligent and more ready to break 
away from the old feudal ideals of loyalty and obe- 
dience to employers will there be much chance for 
improvement. Individual rebellion or initiative is 
still generally deprecated among the lower classes 
themselves. This alone would prevent organized 
effort on a large scale from succeeding rapidly. 

While some concessions have been granted and 
some improvements made in the occupations in 
which male workers predominate, in the textile in- 
dustries where women workers prevail little has been 
achieved. The textile industries, chiefly cotton and 
silk spinning and weaving, are perhaps to-day the 
most important industries in Japan. 



158 MODERN JAPAN 

IV 

When Japan adopted the Western system of 
manufacturing, her dominant idea was to learn to 
produce cheaply and to find markets quickly ; conse- 
quently, she adopted the strictly mechanical methods 
of production of the Western world with little con- 
cern for the social or ethical welfare of the workers. 
To-day factory conditions in Japan are perhaps the 
worst in the civilized world — the darkest blot on 
her map of wonderful progress and achievement. 
[Thousands of workers — ^mostly women and children 
— ^are recruited from all parts of the country to feed 
the factories which have multiplied faster than 
workers could be obtained. There are now more 
than a million factory workers, seventy-three per 
cent, of whom are females — mostly girls under 
twenty years of age — ^and children. 

The majority of female workers are engaged in 
the spinning, weaving and dyeing industries ; seventy 
per cent, live in the factory compounds or quarters, 
i. e., under the direct control or supervision of the 
factory managers. In the larger factories one thou- 
sand to fifteen hundred are frequently housed in a 
single compound. A high fence usually encloses a 
compound of several acres which contains the fac- 
tory proper, large dormitories for sleeping accom- 
modations, sometimes a theater, hospital and store 
furnished with general supplies, and possibly a Bud- 
dhist-Shinto shrine or small place of worship. The 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 159 

hospitals at some of the best factories are clean, 
tidy and well equipped, while others are unsanitary 
and are pest houses of contagion. Ordinarily there 
are no charges to the workers for hospital service. 

The theaters are generally attractive and at the 
best factories some effort is made to keep the amuse- 
ments clean and wholesome, but more often the 
entertainment is vulgar and indecently suggestive, 
at least from the Western view-point; though it is 
doubtful whether in the long run they are any more 
vulgar and demoralizing than are the London music- 
halls or the American vaudeville or picture shows. 
The purpose of these theaters is to amuse the work- 
ers of the compound so that they may be prevented 
from going elsewhere to seek amusements. 

The dormitories are usually flimsy, cheaply built 
oblong buildings divided into sleeping compart- 
ments, each of which is furnished with from eight 
to twenty sleeping pads placed closely together. At 
a few of the factories there is sufficient sleeping 
space and equipment so that the pads may be ven- 
tilated, but at the great majority of places the pads 
and bedding are in constant service, the night work- 
ers taking possession of the fouton while they are 
still warm after the day-shift workers have left 
them. Such unsanitary conditions are dangerous 
and contribute much to the high rate of tuberculosis 
and other diseases prevalent among the workers. 

In ordinary times working hours vary from elev- 
en to fourteen per day, but they are considerably 



i6o MODERN JAPAN 

longer during periods of commercial pressure. The 
following is the program for the night-shift workers 
at one of the best factories in Japan: At 6 p. m. 
the workers go on duty. There is one- fourth hour 
rest at 9 o'clock; one-half hour for dinner at mid- 
night; one- fourth hour rest at 3 a. m.; off duty at 

6 A. M., after which the workers have bath and 
breakfast. At 9 a. m. they go to bed and sleep until 
3 or 4 p. M. ; lunch is served from 4 130 to 5 p. m. 
They have one holiday every ten days, when they 
change over to the day-shift. On such occasions the 
workers are allowed to go out of the compound 
either accompanied by a delegated employee or 
sometimes in groups of three or four unattended, 
though they must return to the compound by 6 or 

7 p. M. At some of the smaller factories the work- 
ers are less carefully supervised, but in case they 
stay out very late their names are publicly posted in 
the factory. 

In many factories the conditions are, to say the 
least, badly behind the times. The ventilation is 
generally poor ; the oil and lint in the atmosphere are 
very obnoxious. As far as we could ascertain, up 
to 191 5 there had been no lint consumers installed 
in all Japan. Various methods of speeding are re- 
sorted to. At some places captains of groups are 
appointed to urge on the workers, the group accom- 
plishing the most within a stipulated period receiving 
a banner. 

At some factories rice balls and other cooked 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS i6i 

food are passed to the workers at the machines so 
that they may continue working with one hand while 
using the other to eat. At many places there is but 
one rest day or holiday a month or one every fort- 
night In changing from the night- to day-shifts 
there are frequently only the quarter- and half -hour 
periods of rest allowed during a continuous stretch 
of twenty- four hours. This in itself is nothing short 
of a social crime. 

At some of the factories and even at the gov- 
ernment factories women carry children upon their 
backs while working. The excuse offered is that 
women with children from distant towns often seek 
emplo}TTient and since workers are scarce they are 
taken on. Naturally the children must be cared for. 
When small they are carried about on the mothers* 
backs, but as soon as they are large enough they are 
put at some light work. Many employers maintain 
that child-labor is so inefficient that it does not pay, 
but they give small children light work merely to 
placate the mothers. 



With the rapid increase of the textile industries 
the demand for workers is very great and continu- 
ous. Under the present deadly system the endur- 
ance of the workers does not last long, and the in- 
dustrial mill must constantly be fed with fresh 
human grist. 



;i62 MODERN JAPAN 

There are two methods of recruiting: through 
advertising, when the workers deal directly with the 
employers; and through recruiting agents, who are 
pften merciless and unscrupulous fellows who go 
from house to house and from district to district 
beguiling the innocent peasants and their young 
girls v\^ith alluring descriptions of the pleasant, re* 
munerative and instructive opportunities which fac- 
tory life has to oifer. Parents are told that their 
{children, by not very hard work, can earn sufficient 
to live well and to lay by extra money either for a 
marriage portion or to help pay off the parents' 
mortgage or other debts. Often the agents exhibit 
samples of writing and sewing from the factory 
children's classes — held an hour or two daily before 
the twelve-hour shift begins. These samples are 
compared with samples of writing and sewing by 
children of the same age from the public schools, 
the factory samples being always superior. The 
theaters, parents are told, are places of amusement 
designed to keep the workers from leaving the com- 
pound. The natural conclusion drawn by the peas- 
ants is that here is an opportunity to transfer their 
daughters from the hard, endless toil at home to 
places where they will be protected, where they will 
receive good instruction, earn their own support and 
jsave a little money all at the same time. 

The peasant is almost invariably in pinched cir- 
cumstances, and is able, only by the most strenuous 
effort and assisted by all members of the family, to 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 163 

eke out the barest subsistence in favorable seasons. 
In seasons of famine peasant families fretjuently 
face literal starvation. Consequently, parents lend 
a ready ear to the pleasing overtures of the factory 
recruiter and are soon persuaded to bind over the 
daughters — ^never the sons — for a period of from 
three to seven years' service in the factories — a pe- 
riod of almost absolute slavery. 

When the simple-hearted peasant girls arrive at 
the factory, everything is different from the account 
given them. The working day is twelve hours, 
with extra hours added when business is pressing. 
The housing is crowded and the food is often poor. 
Every move of the worker, even her correspondence, 
is supervised, and guards are on duty to prevent run- 
ning away. 

Sometimes girls and children enter certain lines 
of industry as apprentices.* They receive their 
board and lodging from the managers, but no other 
remuneration. The apprenticeship, according to the 
contract, usually lasts from five to seven years. At 
the end of that time the worker receives from 
eight to fifteen dollars. Sometimes the supervision 
is so strict that even the mother is not allowed to 
visit the daughter during the apprenticeship. Such 
one-sided privileges naturally breed abuses. 



♦See an extremely able article by K. Kuwata entitled "Die 
gegenwartige I^age der Arbeiter in Japan," published in the 
Archiv filr Socialwissenschaft und Social Politik, Bd. xxxv, 
Heft 3 (1912). 



i64 MODERN JAPAN 

Conditions in the small factories appear to be the 
worst, since only a few rest days are granted, such 
as New Year's day, the three national holidays, and 
a few festival days. Sunday is not observed. Some 
factories grant the day off when the workers are 
changed from the night- to the day-shift, but this 
merely means a free day after working all night. 
Payment is usually monthly, though in some pro- 
vinces it is semi-annually or annually. 

Many factories have saving rules whereby a cer- 
tain sum is set aside each month for the worker. 
The manager holds the savings in trust and mean- 
while has the use of this money, as the savings may 
not be withdrawn until the expiration of the con- 
tract. Sometimes there are conditions which enable 
the worker to draw out the savings before the ex- 
piration of the contract, but usually the conditions 
are so hard that it makes the opportimity almost 
impossible. In fact, the compulsory saving system 
is in most cases only another link in the chain which 
fetters the worker to the employer. 

At the larger factories where the dormitory system 
prevails, large flimsy buildings accommodate the 
workers. These are often as crowded as are the 
slum-quarters of large cities. The housing is free but 
the workers pay for their food and clothing which 
is generally furnished at a minimum cost. The dor- 
mitories are enclosed by a high fence which includes 
all the factory buildings. Although only women 
are housed within the enclosure, the protection is 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 165 

not generally effective. With the change from the 
day- to the night-shifts, men workers can readily 
come and go to and from the compound, and as the 
sleeping apartments in the dormitories are easily ac- 
cessible — merely a matter of pushing open the slid- 
ing windows or doors which run the length of the 
sleeping apartments — all sorts of sex irregularities 
may occur. To be sure sex immorality is not so 
seriously condemned in Japan as with us, at least 
not until there are serious results. Then usually 
the unfortunate girl is sent away. 

In the smaller country towns, factory workers are 
commonly housed and fed by the manager. The 
outer doors to their sleeping apartments are gener- 
ally locked at night to prevent their getting away. 
Sometimes the manager rents houses to accommo- 
date his workers, but the dwelling places are su- 
pervised by the recruiting agents, who sometimes 
permit immoral license with the double purpose of 
keeping the workers better satisfied by adding a lit- 
tle to their incomes and incidentally adding also to 
the income of the agent himself with whom the 
profits of immorality are shared. 

Thus it can readily be seen how many shameful 
abuses may result through this system from which 
there is almost no legitimate release before the 
worker is reduced to utter worthlessness by disease 
or bad health. Thousands of such releases are 
granted annually, and the broken-down workers 
either return home to linger in misery for a time, 



i66 MODERN JAPAN 

then die, mostly with tuberculosis, or they go over 
to clandestine or licensed prostitution, hoping to 
find life a little more endurable. Parallel with the 
continuous dismissal of broken-down workers is the 
incessant demand for fresh workers — ^the inevitable 
result of a system cruel as it is wasteful and de- 
structive, and dangerous to the future welfare of the 
whole nation if it continues uncorrected. 

In justice to some of the best factory employers, it 
must be said that a few have made real efforts to 
improve the condition of their workers. The working 
day is eleven hours; good hospitals are furnished; 
theaters with carefully selected amusements are pro- 
vided; the holidays have been increased; the dor- 
mitories are not so crowded but that the bedding 
may sometimes be ventilated; the food is good 
though simple and furnished at a very low cost; 
children under twelve are not received ; and the sav- 
ings may be had on demand. At such well con- 
ducted factories there is no lack of workers, as is 
commonly the case. But the number of such places 
is so small that the relative results upon the great 
body of workers are practically negligible. 

Among all the memories we retain of Japan — 
most of which are pleasant ones — perhaps the most 
vivid and depressing was one carried away after a 
social hour spent at one of the factories in Osaka 
with an expert Japanese children's entertainer in 
charge of the evening. 

About nine o'clock, after having worked twelve 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 167 

hours, from four hundred to six hundred girls, clean 
and fed, crowded into a room and knelt Japanese 
fashion, one against the other upon the matting be- 
fore us. We sat upon a platform face to face with 
this group. 

We asked no questions Concerning the ages of the 
workers, but judged they ranged from nine to twen- 
ty years. Some were sweet-smiling little girls cud- 
dling up closely to the motherly older ones. A few 
had bright, pleasant faces, but most of them ap- 
peared dull, listless and exhausted, and when the 
vivacious entertainer began they showed little inter- 
est or hope of being amused. 

As the entertainer moved about, snapping his fin- 
g^ers with animation at certain climaxes, the children 
brightened and some laughed heartily, but many in 
the midst of their laughter drooped their heads and 
fell over upon the shoulders of those next them, 
limp with exhaustion. In a few minutes many 
were asleep, and most of those sleeping held their 
mouths wide open which indicated adenoids or other 
nasal affections. 

The agony of watching this group of young girls 
and children struggling to keep awake and to keep 
their aching bodies from collapse became almost 
unbearable. Indeed their faces betrayed keen suf- 
fering as the program continued. Yet here was 
only one illustration of the condition of many thou- 
sands of young workers in Japan. Tom from their 
homes, many at such a tender age that it seems the 



i68 MODERN JAPAN 

direst cruelty to deprive them of family surround- 
ings and to herd them together indiscriminately 
away from all home and humanizing influences, 
their bodies were being so rapidly and surely de- 
stroyed that one was certain that these, like thou- 
sands of others, would shortly be numbered among 
the other thousands of physical wrecks which are 
turned out annually from these factories of human 
destruction again to be replaced by thousands of 
other fresh young girls who in turn will be destroyed 
by the same merciless process. All this transpires 
in the land of Nippon where relatioms between 
parents and children, between employer and em- 
ployee, are so much lauded and declared to be so 
much superior to similar relations among Western 
peoples. On every hand in the course of our inves- 
tigations we had been assured of the fine attitude 
of benevolence and consideration on the part of the 
Japanese employer and of the gratitude and appre- 
ciation on the part of the Japanese workers. In- 
deed, many had maintained to us that industrial 
relationships were so superior in Japan that there 
was really no need of laws to restrain employers or 
to protect the workers who so generally appreciated 
the benevolent treatment which they received. 

VI 

For years the old established Confucian disdain of 
legal education and the old benevolent paternal 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 169 

ideals of feudalism furnished the backbone to the 
tenacious resistance to legal reform. The chief pro- 
moters of modern industrial enterprises were them- 
selves members of the ruling class under the old 
feudal regime. Naturally those most opposed to 
industrial reforms were the industrial leaders and 
business men, many of whom were closely related 
to government officials. 

As early as 1895 a Society of Social Politics was 
formed in Japan composed chiefly of university 
professors, business men and statesmen, with the 
purpose of bringing newly developed social and 
industrial abuses into the field of discussion. Noth- 
ing tangible was accomplished, however, until 191 1, 
when Law No. 46 was finally promulgated. But 
this led to no direct social consequence since the law, 
after baring been passed, was carefully shelved to 
await the time when the small sum of fifty thousand 
yen might be appropriated to provide inspection offi- 
cials to see that the law was enforced. 

It is extremely interesting to note the nature of 
much of the public discussion during the years of 
agitation for legislative action — it is so typical of 
the old Japanese view-point. 

Baron Shibusawa — ^the leading Japanese finan- 
cier, a Confucianist and one of the most public spir- 
ited and representative patriots — in a series of a 
"Hundred Talks," published later in two large vol- 
umes, perhaps best reflected the mental attitude 
common among his class. 



170 MODERN JAPAN 

Social and family problems, he declared, were not 
to be solved simply by law. The relation existing 
hitherto between capitalists and laborers had been a 
family relation. To establish this relation on the 
basis of rights and duties would have the effect of 
creating distance between classes. Let the rich ful- 
fill their obligations to society as rich. Let the poor 
perform their duties as poor exerting themselves. 
Let the upper and lower classes mutually forbear and 
give way to one another. Thus social harmony and 
good feeling would be maintained. Industrial laws, 
he feared, would become the source of agitation be- 
tween capitalists and laborers. He feared also that 
limitation as to age and hours of work would meet 
with opposition among laborers. They desired to 
work as long as possible and to ^use their children 
to work in order to increase the family earnings. 
The law would thwart their purposes. 

Moreover, workmen lived in unsanitary condi- 
tions in their own homes and they would prefer 
higher wages to sanitary improvements in factories. 
In a word, the bill, the object of which was to 
befriend the laborers, was calculated to grieve and 
disappoint them. Baron Shibusawa's remedy was 
to revert to the Confucian-feudal ideals. Let the 
relation between capitalist and laborer be that which 
existed between parent and child, between prince 
and retainer. 

In opposing factory legislation the feudal ideals 
were generally advocated. During a discussion be- 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 171 

fore the Society of Social Politics, Mr. G. Kolay- 
ashi, counselor of the Imperial Government Rail- 
ways, offered an opinion which is still held largely 
in Japan. In reply to an argument that the proposed 
factory laws were intended to put down the strong 
and protect the weak, particularly women and chil- 
dren, he asked: ''What need is there for factory 
laws in view of the excellent spirit among the Japan- 
ese people ? In the West where this fine spirit was 
not known, where the strong oppressed the weak, 
the necessity for factory laws was recognized a hun- 
dred years ago, since it was necessary to restrain 
capitalists. In Japan the laboring people prefer 
long hours. The people are poor. Old, young, 
men, women and children alike have to exert them- 
selves; competition is keen, and Japan cannot bring 
about the industrial conquest of other strong nations 
except by cheap labor and long hours." 

This latter statement furnishes the key to all the 
opposition to industrial legislation. In more def- 
inite terms, it implies — Succeed we must, and only 
by long hours and cheap labor can this be accom- 
plished. So let us not disturb the beautiful old 
customs by which master and servant are bound 
together. 

Seventy years ago, it must be remembered, simi- 
lar ideas and conditions dominated England, and 
twenty years ago they were commonly prevalent in 
the United States. But in Japan opposed to 
powerful men like Baron Shibusawa and Imperial 



172 MODERN JAPAN 

Counselor Kolayashi advocating the old feudal 
ideals, are a few strong, fearless men like Pro- 
fessors Toda and Kuwata, Mr. E. Komada of the 
House of Lords and President of Keio University, 
Dr. Soyeda, Member of the House of Lords, and a 
minority group of eminent and similarly minded 
men who vigorously denounced these belated ideals 
— the lack of public concern for the welfare of the 
workers and for the future social welfare of the 
nation, the lack of economic intelligence and the 
blind and cold-hearted neglect of workers by states- 
men and the State. 

During all this agitation the majority of the Jap- 
anese people remained indifferent to existing condi- 
tions, and in face of such powerful opposition to re- 
form it took great courage to persist on the part of 
the reformers. Even men of powerful social and 
political influence scarcely dared speak out openly 
and frankly. 

We knew personally of one eminent Japanese 
who, though he openly advocated reform, dared 
not state conditions as he knew them actually to be; 
consequently, he went to the pains of writing a se- 
ries of able articles exposing the exploiting system 
of Japan and suggesting legislation to abolish the 
prevalent abuses. These articles he published in a 
prominent English paper under an assumed English 
name and afterward had them copied and circulated 
m Japan, with a view to quickening the pressure 
at home. 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 173 

VII 

But let us inquire into the legislation actually 
achieved. In 1909 legislation for the control of 
factories was first taken in hand. A bill was for-* 
mulated, considered by a committee appointed by 
the Diet and finally — ^because of disagreement — 
withdrawn. In 19 10 a draft of a second factory 
law was made, but, like the first, failed to be enacted. 
This bill in a slightly amended form was passed by 
the Diet in January, 191 1. The time when the 
act was put into operation was left to be fixed by 
Imperial ordinance. Originally it was intended 
that the year following its passage would see it in 
force. In January, 191 2, it was announced that 
this would be done in 19 14. The delay was neces- 
sary to await financial adjustments and the appro- 
priation of fifty thousand yen for supervisory offi- 
cials. Early in 191 5 a further postponement until 
April, 1 9 16, was announced. But once more there 
was difficulty and disappointment. In May, 1916, 
it appears certain regulations did not meet with the 
approval of the Privy Council and the bill was to 
be amended and ready for final adoption in Septem- 
ber. It was at last published in the Official Gazette 
as an Imperial ordinance so it is not likely to meet 
with further changes or delay. 

The original proposals of this act have been 
changed until it is claimed that the bill is merely a 
shadow of its original form. Perhaps the worst 



174 MODERN JAPAN 

feature is the exemption of all the State factories 
from this law. There is also a special provision 
allowing an extension of working hours in factories 
engaged in raw silk and silk textiles. Special privi- 
leges for some industries have of course aroused 
prompt inquiries from the textile industries. Why 
should not such privileges be extended to them also ? 

Qiildren under ten years are excluded from fac- 
tory work. The original law fixed the age at 
twelve, and even the ten-year-old provision may be 
cancelled by special permission from the authorities. 

Children from ten to twelve may be employed 
only on certain light work and not over six hours 
per day, and provisions must be made so they may 
complete the six years' primary course. Obviously, 
after children have worked six hours they are in no 
condition to take up their studies. 

Even in the original law of 191 1, as has been 
stated, there were many loopholes for evasion. For 
example, one provision required that children un- 
der twelve years of age should not be employed in 
the factories. At the same time another provision 
declared that children under fifteen were not to be 
employed longer than twelve hours per day. An- 
other provision decreed that twelve hours should be 
the maximum day — except at times of special busi- 
ness pressure. The regulations of 19 16 provide for 
the gradual reduction of hours for young persons 
and women, commencing at fourteen hours per day, 
then to thirteen and finally to twelve, the process 
of reduction covering a period of fifteen years. 



ECONOMIC CONDITIONS 175 

When it is taken into account that only two holi- 
days a month are granted and that the intervening 
periods of rest during working hours are usually 
not over thirty minutes, it still leaves conditions de- 
plorable. In fact, the new law is almost a farce, 
since it promises so little relief to the workers. 

But while the enactment and eventual application 
of this law as it now stands can have no momen- 
tous social results, the fact that the Government 
itself has been moved to pass legislation indicates 
that a few enlightened, public-spirited men have 
succeeded in the face of powerful and persistent 
opposition in rousing and crystallizing enough influ- 
ential opinion to bring about some action in the right 
direction. This in itself is a real triumph and should 
give courage to the agitators to continue the strug- 
gle. 

Meanwhile general education in Japan is becom- 
ing more and more popular, and public opinion is 
certain to become stronger and less tolerant of the 
present ghastly exploitation of human life. It is 
to be hoped also that in time the glorification of 
submission and obedience in women will become 
less potent, and that women themselves may be 
roused to a sense of the injustices forced upon them 
and will cease to be so docile and submissive to 
employers, who for mere pecuniary gain in a few 
years destroy them physically and relegate them to 
the great masses of social wastage with no hope, no 
prospect, and no outlook but misery and death be- 
fore them. 



CHAPTER X 

POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS 
I 

By some modem writers it is claimed that while 
there are many poor in Japan, there is little actual 
poverty or pauperism. Under the old feudal sys- 
tem this was unquestionably true. In old Japan 
there were few vast fortunes. Comparatively 
speaking, the whole people were poor. But under 
the modern industrial system, greater accumula- 
tions of wealth are possible and the old story is 
repeating itself — the rich are becoming richer and 
the poor poorer. 

The burdensome taxes resulting from two wars 
have been the strongest factor tending to force mul- 
titudes of the poorer classes into the outer poverty 
lines. Wages have generally risen, but living com- 
modities have gradually been so heavily taxed as to 
result in the poor having far less than formerly; 
while for many thousands the struggle for the bar- 
est and often most wretched existence is a truly 
desperate one. 

Every large city of Japan may now boast of its 
slum quarters in which conditions of wretchedness 
are nowhere surpassed. Tokyo has its Shitaya 

176 



POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS 177 

quarter where multitudes are herded together In 
the lowest degree of human degradation. In streets 
like the Shin Ami Cho there are about three hundred 
and fifty tiny two- and three-mat houses (six and 
nine feet square) occupied by people too poor to 
possess the rags which cover them at night. For 
one-half sen, or a fourth of a cent per night, they 
rent sleeping space and are often crowded in upon 
the floor of these tiny compartments with a whole 
family or with other unfortunates like themselves. 
For half a sen they rent the miserable coverings 
made of dirty rags or pieces of clothing, and some- 
times in the severest weather a whole family must 
cuddle togetlier under the one covering. In Shitaya 
there are several larger houses for the sleeping ac- 
commodation of detached people, where sleeping 
space with rag coverings are rented at from one to 
two sen per night. At these places men, w^omen and 
children are huddled together as closely as possible 
upon the floor in filthy rags infected with vermin. 

While housing conditions in Shitaya and in corre- 
sponding quarters of other cities are detestable, the 
feeding of these multitudes is still more revolting. 
One may literally say they are fed upon garbage.* 
Fish heads and entrails, partly decomposed fruits, 
rice and other cooked and uncooked vegetables, com- 
pose their diet. There are established restaurants 
in some of the poorest quarters of the larger cities 

*Cf. Henry Dumolard, Le Japon politique, economic et 
social, chapter viii. 



178 MODERN JAPAN 

where a meal of garbage collected from the hotels, 
restaurants, tea houses or hospitals, is served for 
from two to five sen (one to two and one-half cents) , 
at a handsome profit. It is said that men have made 
and are making small fortunes in such collections 
and dispositions of garbage. One would suppose 
that in the midst of such dire poverty there could 
be no opportunities for great gain. But in Japan, 
as in most countries, the usurer, the speculator, the 
landlord, commonly reap their richest harvests in 
the exploitation of the poor. 

One item of stupendous exploitation is in the rent- 
ing of the wretched shacks called two-mat houses. 
The cost of building one of these is about 20 yen 
($10.00). They rent commonly for 4 sen per 
night (4j^ with mats). During the year the rent 
would amount to 1,460 sen or 14.6 yen — ^about 70 
per cent, on the capital invested. Sometimes this 
amount is almost doubled by renting mere sleeping 
space. In such cases, even with taxes and the paltry 
repairs deducted, the net profits may amount to one 
hundred per cent, annually. Equally large profits, 
it is said, are reaped from the sale and rental of 
filthy, ragged clothing and bedding; also in the 
pawning business where often even the family's 
supply of food is put in pawn for the day. It is 
not an uncommon custom, we were informed, for a 
family to pool their paltry gains at the end of the 
day in order to purchase enough rice, sweet potatoes, 
or what not, to last during the next day. After 



POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS 179 

eating from this supply at night and again in the 
morning the remainder is then put in pawn in order 
to gtt a few sen for materials to start some petty 
business in the morning, like purchasing straw to 
make sandals or bamboo for baskets. If the day's 
earnings permit, the food is redeemed at night, leav- 
ing a good profit with the pawnee. 

The Japan Mail of August 29, 191 5, contained 
an editorial on the relief work in the slums of Tokyo 
which claimed there were then in that city about 
205,800 persons who were forced to receive relief 
from the Imperial Charity Fund and Association 
and similar organizations. 

Many imagine that only tramps, vagabonds, ped- 
dlers, cripples and beggars inhabit these slum quar- 
ters, but investigators have found that rickshaw men, 
artizans of various sorts, petty merchants, men who 
go about repairing household utensils, rag and paper 
collectors, sweepers, in fact all sorts of people who 
have fallen into poverty inhabit these quarters. 

Naturally sex promiscuity, infanticide and dis- 
ease of all sorts are very common in such districts. 
Indeed, they are pest-breeding centers and most city 
governments do little or nothing to improve or 
ameliorate conditions. Thousands of these people, 
it is claimed, are too poor even to pay the residence 
tax which does not generally amount to more than 
ten or twenty cents a year. Cities in turn give as 
little public service as possible. The lighting is 
extremely scant and the sanitary service shameful. 



i8o MODERN JAPAN 

In the city of Kobe, for instance, we visited a sec- 
tion in Fukiai which contained 1,944 one-room, two- 
mat (six by six feet square) houses. There were 
eleven blocks which housed 7,510 persons. Most of 
the alleys on which the houses are built were mere 
passageways with an open trench extending down 
one side through which flowed a sluggish little 
stream of water. Some of the inhabitants were 
washing food, others were washing pieces of cloth- 
ing in the water. At the upper end, in a corner of 
three of the crowded alleys entirely exposed to the 
public gaze was an open vat with a mere iron rail 
about it, which served as a community toilet. The 
human excrement in the vat was overflowing and 
running down into the water trench in which peo- 
ple, only a short distance away, were washing food 
and clothing. Although these vats are emptied 
every day or two by peasants who purchase the con- 
tents for fertilizing purposes, yet the accommoda- 
tions in these congested quarters are inadequate and 
indecent, to say nothing of the grave dangers to the 
public health. 

"Does not the city ever clean up these pest 
places?" we inquired of our guide who was show- 
ing us about through the city streets. "Yes, usual- 
ly before festival days," was the rejoinder. We 
were further informed that several well-intentioned 
Japanese in Kobe who were desirous for better 
conditions for the very poor people had repeatedly 
appealed to the authorities for improved lighting and 



POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS i8i 

sanitation for these quarters, but no action had re- 
sulted. 

Japanese always remind one that even in the most 
wretched quarters facilities for bathing are always 
free. Bathing originally was included in the relig- 
ious rites of the Japanese as of other Oriental peo- 
ples, and it has become one of the normal functions 
of life, almost as important as eating. In the bet- 
ter quarters of large cities, diseased persons may not 
enter the public bath, but in the very congested slum 
districts, where diseases of all sorts prevail, the 
public bath, which is a vat of very hot water into 
which many individuals enter one after another, 
after a preliminary soaping, must be a medium for 
transmitting disease and contagion. Moreover, the 
clothing of the people in the slums do not have the 
appearance of receiving the same religious atten- 
tions as do their bodies. 

II 

The abject poverty of Japan is by no means 
Confined to the congested districts of the larger cit- 
ies. As has been stated in a previous chapter, the 
cultivated land is much overcrowded, and the peas- 
ant on his small holdings is commonly unable to eke 
out an existence for himself and his family except 
by engaging in some subsidiary occupation at which 
each member of the family may turn a hand during 
every spare moment of the day. But even in pros- 



i82 MODERN JAPAN 

perous times the peasant usually has no margin for 
economies which might tide him over periodical 
calamities like floods, famines and earthquakes. 
When such adversities do come, invariably there are 
thousands of peasant families who face literal starva- 
tion and without charitable aid could not survive. 

Floods and famines, however, do not appear to be 
the worst inflictions constantly menacing the peas- 
ants. Numerous uncontrolled and merciless money- 
lenders are the leeches who constantly sap the life 
and hope of the poor farmers as well as of many 
other classes high and low, including tradespeople 
and petty officials. 

The vast majority of petty land holdings are 
heavily mortgaged and at such extortionate rates of 
interest as would crush the prosperous, to say noth- 
ing of the poor. These rates vary from twenty to 
fifty per cent, compounded monthly. In some cases 
they mount even to one hundred and two hundred 
per cent. Such shameful usury coupled with the 
other heavy taxes imposed by the Government upon 
every commodity, every necessity — and some are 
taxed several times in different ways — have un- 
doubtedly combined to create these vast hordes of 
destitute poor who number not thousands but 
millions. 

In 19 1 4 the Government made the startling an- 
nouncement that during the previous winter nine 
million people in the northern districts of the Em- 
pire, including thb Hokkaido, were in pressing need 



POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS 183 

of assistance. From an article on ''Relief Work" 
by the Rev. J. P. Neone, one learns that the suffer- 
ing among these people in the rural districts at such 
periods is most acute. "Thousands possess no bed- 
ding, except a few old rags, no fuel, and no food." 

In the face of such distress, it is not so astonish- 
ing that parents are induced to bind over their 
daughters — often little girls — into slavery of the 
most shameful kind. At such periods of acute des- 
olation the recruiting agents for the factories and 
for the Yoshiwara (prostitute quarters) are always 
on hand, going from door to door, telling the poor 
ignorant people how daughters may save their 
families from starvation and may lay by extra mon- 
ey for themselves by doing service in these places 
for a period of years after which they may return 
to their homes. When facing such hopeless dis- 
tress on the one hand and such rosy redeeming pros- 
pects on the other, parents readily bind over their 
daughters for a period of from three to seven years 
either to the great factories or to the prostitute 
quarters, little dreaming what martyrdom their chil- 
dren must usually undergo. 

The methods of recruiting for the factories have 
already been discussed. Those for the Yoshiwara 
are similar, excepting that the contracts call for a 
lump sum to be paid the parents in advance. 

This leads to a discussion of the question of li- 
censed prostitution in its various phases — an insti- 
tution established and controlled by the State. 



i84 MODERN JAPAN 



III 



The Yoshiwara is an ancient institution of Japan, 
but the present system of State-hcensed prostitution 
was established in 1872 on the advice of a British 
army surgeon then in the employ of the Japanese 
Government with a view to lessening the abuses and 
horribly degrading conditions of social vice con- 
trolled by private individuals and political scoun- 
drels. 

The Western world looks aghast upon a State that 
permits parents practically to sell their daughters 
into lives of shame and slavery and itself shares 
richly in the profits. Ghastly as the practice is and 
loudly as it should be denounced, yet the self-right- 
eous, superior attitude which most Occidental writ- 
ers assume in the discussion of this institution as it 
is estabhshed in Japan is almost ludicrous, since it 
must be acknowledged that the social evils as existing 
in Western lands, and particularly in our own large 
cities, are far more degrading for both sexes and far 
more merciless and immoral in their effect upon the 
young women victims concerned than is the case in 
Japan. 

An example of smug superiority typical of so 
many Occidental writers, particularly British, is 
found in Lawton's Empires of the Far East."^ He 
says : "It is not realized that in the midst of a coun- 



*Volume I, page 724. 



POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS 185 

try which, perhaps, more tlian any other part of the 
world, has been endowed with the glorious' beauties 
of nature, thousands of women, and even little girls 
are enslaved in a condition of moral degradation 
that has no parallel in lands where the teachings of 
Christianity are accepted." 

This sort of comment indicates either supreme 
ignorance of the conditions of prostitution as they 
exist in Western countries or an intolerable phari- 
saical twist of mind. The statement would doubt- 
less be more literally true of conditions in Western 
lands if it read : ''Permitted by the National Gov- 
ernment, and local governments sharing often in 
the shameful profits of their exploitations, thousands 
of women and little girls are allowed to be enslaved 
in a condition of moral degradation that has no 
parallel except in lands where the teachings of Chris- 
tianity are accepted."* 

It must also be rememl3ered that sex morality has 
not been rated the highest morality for Japanese 
women as it has been for Western women. Self- 
sacrifice for a high purpose was formerly rated of 
greater importance socially. Consequently, Japa- 
nese social ethics decreed that a woman might de- 
file her body but not her soul to save her family 



♦For data concerning vice conditions in Western countries, 
see The Social Evil in Chicago by the Vice Commission; 
Kneeland's Commercialized Prostitution in New York; Flex- 
ner's Prostitution in Burope; and Sanger's History of Pros- 
titution. 



i86 MODERN JAPAN 

from death, starvation, extreme suffering, or her 
husband from disgrace. Until recent years, since 
the teachings of Christianity have somewhat influ- 
enced the thought concerning social standards, 
daughters were respected, even lauded, for such sac- 
rifices, just as the sons were lauded for laying down 
their lives for their retainers, and now for the Mi- 
kado or their country. Prof. Rein, writing as early 
as 1884, says: *'In the opinion of all those who are 
actually acquainted with the facts relating to this 
subject, the fallen woman in Japan is never found 
to occupy so low a position as in our own great 
towns. On the contrary, the inmates of the Yoshi- 
wara are not despised but pitied by the better classes 
of society; and indeed it is known that they are 
pursuing their degraded avocation from no fault 
of their own, but at the will of their parents or near- 
est relatives, who have for the most part sold them 
in their early years to the proprietors of houses of 
public resort, where they are trained in various 
branches, but more particularly in the arts of Aspa- 
sia, until the time arrives when they are fit to turn 
them to account as slaves of their masters."* 

The practice of parents selling daughters purely 
for gain has not been uncommon.f "In plain lan- 
guage," says Lawton, "some parents are not slow to 
bring all the pressure of that family system of auth- 
ority which has been so inconsiderately extolled, to 

*Rein, Japan, page 432. 

tLfEwton, Umpires of the Par East, volume I, page 728. 



POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS 187 

bear upon their daughters in order to induce them 
to quit a life of virtue for a bondage of vite from 
which they themselves may receive the ill-gotten 
proceeds. . . . Moreover, it is notorious; and in 
addition there are thousands of instances where, if 
the relatives are not actually parties to the evil con- 
tract, they are, at least, constant receivers of the re- 
sultant earnings." 



IV 



As has been stated, the Yoshiwara, or segregated 
quarter of prostitution, is an old institution in Ja- 
pan. It was regulated by legislation as early as 
161 7, with a view to lessening and controlling, more 
or less, the various evils associated with vice, such 
as kidnapping children for evil purposes and prevent- 
ing prolonged and costly debauches; also with a 
view to facilitating the hunting down of criminals 
who so often take refuge in vice quarters. 

A custom which indicated that prostitution is not 
frowned upon seriously by the public is the frequent 
practice of locating the segregated quarters close to 
the temples. In fact, there are many places where 
the temples are on one side of a street and the 
houses of pleasure on the opposite side. Often the 
main road leading to the temples passes through the 
licensed quarters. ''On the great temple festivals," 
Rein informs us, "they [the inmates of the Yoshi- 
wara] have to march in the procession in their best 



i88 MODERN JAPAN 

attire and to serve the dishes at the feast given by 
some high official." Indeed, it has always been the 
custom on festival days for the people, even the bet- 
ter classes, to go with their families, including the 
children, to the Yoshiwara to watch the gay, bril- 
liant spectacles given by the inmates. 

In Japan as elsewhere there are grades and classes 
of public women. The geisha are the public singers 
or entertainers. Commonly they are recruited as 
children, or they are adopted as orphans or kid- 
napped with a view to preparing them for public 
life. When quite young they are trained in dancing, 
singing, posing, story-telling, playing the sami- 
sen, in pretty manners ; in short, in all the arts and 
wiles of conduct which will eventually make them 
attractive to men. Rarely are they given any moral 
training beyond being docile and obedient. Natur- 
ally, they are ill-fitted to resist the temptations by 
which they are constantly beset later as public en- 
tertainers. Very commonly they are first corrupted 
by their so-called foster fathers, who afterward 
hire them out as mistresses to natives or foreigners 
for a short period of time, or as concubines. When 
the masters wish to change, the girls return to their 
foster parents and are hired out as entertainers, or 
as the trade may indicate. 

But some of the geisha appear to manage their 
own lives fairly well, and with more independence 
than any other classes of women in Japan. Some 
have married, and are to-day living legitimate con- 



POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS 189 

ventional lives in high places. Up to a very recent 
period the geisha were omnipresent at all public and 
even private functions of importance from the Court 
down. At mixed social gatherings it has been an 
imperative custom for wives to exchange formal 
courtesies and then to retire to one side and remain 
silent and demure while the geisha performed, after 
which the husbands amused themselves with the 
geisha while the wives looked on. But it must al- 
ways be remembered that loose, familiar conduct 
is never seen in public in Japan. Good form is al- 
most invariably observed. Of late years there has 
begun to be considerable reaction against this old- 
established custom. A movement against the om- 
nipresence of the geisha, conducted by Madam Ya- 
jima and her W. C. T. U. following, has made 
such an impression that even during the recent cor- 
onation festivals the geisha were largely eliminated 
from the Court functions. '•/ 

The common joro (prostitutes), and even the 
higher classes of courtesans, led a very different 
life from that of the geisha. They are recruited 
when young by agents — men or women, who follow 
recruiting as a business — and are also given some 
training with a view to preparing them for later 
duty. In short, practices corresponding to those 
of the white slave trade of which we have so re- 
cently become aware have long been common in 
Japan as elsewhere. 'Tt is a positive fact," says De 
Becker in The Nightless City, "that some evil- 



I90 MODERN JAPAN 

minded persons make it a regular profession to take 
in the daughters of the poor people under the pre- 
text of adopting them as their own children, but 
when the girls grow up they are sent out to service 
as concubines or as prostitutes, and in this manner 
the persons who have adopted them reap a golden 
harvest." 

In considering the problem of prostitution in Ja- 
pan, it must be borne in mind that almost no young 
women engage in this profession of their own free 
will. Generally they are bound over by a firm and 
fast contract made by parents or guardians after the 
girl has first formally appealed in writing to the 
Government for permission to engage in the prac- 
tice. 

It is true that in order to safeguard* the applicant 
as much as the system will permit, she must appear 
in person at the police station, where she is closely 
questioned and warned against taking such a fatal 
step. She is then required to file a document, usu- 
ally through one having power of attorney, giving 
full details of her necessity for becoming a pros- 
titute. She is also questioned concerning her birth, 
parents or relatives, the place where she intends to 
practise, the name she will adopt, her proposed term 
of service, her present means of livelihood ; in brief, 
regarding everything pertaining to her life. This 
application must be accompanied by the documents 



*De Becker, Nightless City, pages 333-334- 



POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS 191 

of consent signed and sealed by the proper parties, 
i. e., her family. "Strictly speaking," Lawton in- 
forms us,* ''the law places itself on the right side. 
Theoretically, the girls are free to choose their own 
way in life. In reality, they are bound hand and 
foot, just as much as though they wore chains and 
manacles." In a word, the Japanese girl may in no 
wise follow her own will. 

After official permission to practise prostitution 
has been granted the applicant must undergo a med- 
ical examination before the contract with the brothel 
keeper is made. The contract is then executed, 
signed, sealed and witnessed. Usually a sum of 
money is paid in advance to the parents or guardian, 
for which the girl gives service until the debt is 
cleared. During her period of service the girl re- 
ceives food, clothing, medical attention — all of which 
comes out of her portion of her earnings. Unfail- 
ingly she is encouraged to be extravagant in the 
brothel, and the charges made for all she receives 
are so exorbitant that often instead of liquidating 
her debt at an early period, as she hopes always to 
do in the beginning, fresh charges are added con- 
stantly to her account, and her debt increases. 

Perhaps the worst feature of the contract is the 
practice of having a guarantor who may be held 
legally responsible for the loans by the brothel 
keeper, in case the girl by some chance does not 



*Lawton, volume I, page 727. 



192 MODERN JAPAN 

redeem the debt This accounts for girls bearing 
up under the most shameful abuses when they might 
sometimes escape or would gladly destroy them- 
selves. Yet the terrific family pressure does not 
always inhibit them. Sometimes they do escape and 
not infrequently they commit suicide. A well-estab- 
lished rule at all brothels forbids guests from enter- 
ing with any sort of a weapon, the double purpose 
being to prevent brawling and as a precaution 
against suicide. Nevertheless it is stated by good 
authorities, such as Colonel Yamamura, head of the 
Salvation Army, and others, that an average of from 
two to three double suicides a month occur in Tokyo 
alone, to say nothing of the single suicides of the 
girls. The double suicides are cases where young 
men and young girls become attached to each other, 
both parties knowing they can never be legitimately 
united. 

The Government requires frequent and regular 
inspection of all prostitutes. Hospitals are main- 
tained in connection with the segregated prostitute 
quarters. But medical inspection in Japan, like sim- 
ilar inspection elsewhere, is more or less farcical, 
and experts maintain that an average of fifteen out 
of every twenty prostitutes are diseased. In connec- 
tion with commercialized vice there are many rules 
and regulations intended to safeguard the public, 
to prevent the exploiting of all parties concerned, 
to guard the health of the patrons and to keep all 
conduct as proper and orderly as possible, accord- 



POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS 193 

ing to the accepted standards. But it is known that 
police officials, inspectors, doctors and nursed are all 
underpaid, and that in order to live they must add to 
tlieir legitimate incomes. This fact, in a nutshell, 
accounts for the general corruption of the whole 
system, so that notwithstanding the numerous rules 
and regulations against fees and other forms of ex- 
ploitation, there is no small amount of "salving," 
"squeeze" and tea-money all along the line. 

Before entering a brothel each patron must be 
registered and pay a fee of twenty sen. The regis- 
tration includes the name, profession, status and re- 
corded place of living, details of dress and personal 
appearance of tlie guest. This record is kept care- 
fully and may be used at any time for police or secret 
service purposes, as well as to keep an account of the 
business returns, in which the Government shares. 
While the Government reaps a harvest in vice traf- 
fic through various forms of assessment, it has nev- 
ertheless made great effort to make this evil as safe, 
orderly and free from associated crimes and grave 
debaucheries as possible. To be sure, there are in- 
famous practices connected with the business, such 
as exposing the young girls in cages to public gaze 
in the streets, although this is no longer done at the 
best houses, where photographs are on exhibition 
at the entrance ; and the keeper bawls out in extrav- 
agant terms the charms and virtues of his inmates. 
But some unspeakable abuses common in Western 
nations have been largely eHminated in Japan. The 



194 MODERN JAPAN 

various uses of drugs, excessive drinking, brawling 
and bullying of women are not tolerated, and the 
treatment of the inmates of brothels is often more 
humane than in Western lands, where physical ruin 
and early death are the general rule. In Japan, on 
the other hand, women of the same class are often 
redeemed and marry after a time and become re- 
spectable wives and mothers. 

It is said that there are about nine different 
classes of Japanese prostitutes, graded according to 
looks, talent, popularity, and the streets or houses 
in which they are practising. 



As to the extent of prostitution in Japan, state- 
ments and statistics are so much at variance that 
even an approximate estimate can scarcely be made. 
Lawton* concludes from statistics made in 1898 
that there were 40,208 courtesans, 24,261 singing 
girls, 546 segregated quarters and 10,172 establish- 
ments. 

A French writer, M. G. Weulersse,t published an 



*Lawton, The Empires of the Far Bast, volume I, page 
727. 

fWeulersse, Japan d'ajourd'hui, page 286. Compare the 
above figures with those concerning Great Britain estimated a 
few years latter by W. W. Sanger, in History of Prostitution, 
page 359- See also Flexner, Prostitution in Europe (1914), 
especially pages 24 ff. By comparing these authorities it will 
readily be seen that conditions in Western Europe and Amer- 
ica are in some respects worse than in Japan. 



POVERTY AND SOCIAL EVILS 195 

investigation of social problems in Japan in 19 10. 
He estimated the number of registered prostitutes 
at fifty thousand; the non-registered (those doing 
service as maids in tea-houses, etc.) at eighty thou- 
sand, and the geisha at thirty thousand. 

This would seem to indicate considerable moral 
laxity in Japan, resulting in v^idespread disease. 
According to conservative authorities like Colonel 
Yamamura, venereal disease is very common in 
spite of frequent inspection and the hospital service. 
But when the figures concerning Japanese prostitu- 
tion are compared with the figures in America and 
European countries,* one finds every associated evil 
existing in greater profusion and variety in these 
Occidental countries than in Japan. True, West- 
ern Governments do not share in tlie exploitation 
of this vice, though they unquestionably do not 
prevent local city of^cials from levying assess- 
ments in the way of "police protection" and "privi- 
leges," nor do they prevent the liquor interests from 
sharing and co-operating largely in the trafific. Fur- 
thermore, the precautions against the spreading of 
disease are more or less desultory and neglectful ; in 
brief, abuses of every form are unquestionably 
worse in Western countries. 

The most shameful feature in the Japanese sys- 
tem, as has been indicated, is that of parents prac- 

*See The Social Evil in Chicago, by the Vice Commission ; 
Kneeland, Commercialised Prostitution in New York City; 
Flexner, Prostitution in Europe. 



196 MODERN JAPAN 

tically selling their own daughters into such bondage 
and entering into contracts with the Government 
for such a privilege, both parties sharing in the prof- 
its of this infamous exploitation. And it must 
be acknowledged that a people who tolerate such 
conditions, with so little public protest against them 
and with so little social stigma upon thfe families 
who engage in such practices, may not lay claim to 
being highly civilized, even though they have ac- 
quired beautiful manners, artistic standards of con- 
duct, and make lofty claims of social and family 
superiority. 

Clearly the Japanese would do well to provide a 
liberal education for women which would make for 
broader social as well as domestic development and 
would give women a chance for some expression 
concerning the disposition of their own abilities, 
their own services, and particularly their own bodies. 



CHAPTER XI 

CHARITIES, BENEVOLENCES AND MUTUAL AID 
I 

From time immemorial the Japanese people have 
been compelled to accustom and adjust themselves 
to frequent and stupendous disasters like floods, 
famines, earthquakes, various pestilential epidemics, 
as well as ruinous internal wars; and because of 
these numerous far-reaching disasters the people and 
rulers early learned to devise ways and means of col- 
lective co-operation in protecting themselves against 
such calamities. 

From the earliest period, when the Emperors were 
considered divine, they were expected to cure cattle 
and human diseases, to check epidemics and to ex- 
terminate harmful birds, beasts and insects through 
"charms" which their supernatural power enabled 
them to exercise against such evils. In a similar 
manner we find the early pagans, and later the Chris- 
tians, were expected to perform miracles and cast 
out devils. The early Japanese rulers were also ex- 
pected to give aid to the sick, the aged and beg- 
gars. Consequently, Japanese mythological history 
abounds in traditions of miracles and relief-works 
performed by the divine Emperors. 

197 



198 MODERN JAPAN 

After Buddhism was introduced (572-621), the 
attitude of the people underwent some change, and 
Buddha began to share in the divine powers for- 
merly attributed solely to the Emperors. The Bud- 
dhist priests did much also in teaching and aiding 
the people, in promoting public welfare and commu- 
nity enterprises, in preventing disasters or preparing 
against them. Side by side they built temples and 
relief -hospitals, as they would be called nowadays. 

Early Buddhistic and Confucian teaching strongly 
emphasized the importance of practising benevo- 
lences and of cultivating benevolent conduct, and 
history relates that as early as the seventh and eighth 
centuries there were great public benefactors and 
princes who built public baths and asylums for the 
sick and poor. Buddhist priests themselves often 
directed and even personally aided in the various 
public welfare enterprises like building the public 
granaries and roads, mending bridges and reclaim- 
ing waste lands. 

There is a story commonly told of a priest named 
Shaku-Kuya who, about 938, changed his name and 
went on a pilgrimage throughout the empire, every- 
where devoting himself to good works of public 
welfare, such as mending roads, building bridges, 
digging wells, improving temples and burying 
corpses exposed along the waysides. Meanwhile he 
preached Buddhism in the streets of the various vil- 
lages. Later he was given the title "Great Priest." 
History records that during an epidemic which 



CHARITIES AND MUTUAL AID 199 

caused many people to die at Kyoto and in the sur- 
rounding country this "Great Priest" carVed an 
image of Buddha ten feet high with eleven faces. 
When the image was completed the epidemic ceased. 
Thus we learn that many of the early devout follow- 
ers of Buddha were quite as able to perform miracles 
as were the early devout followers of Christ. 

As was customary in most countries, the various 
early Emperors and princes of Japan often initiated 
public works like the building of castles, roadways 
and canals, primarily to give employment and to 
teach habits of diligence and thrift to destitute 
tramps and beggars. As many as one hundred thou- 
sand out-of-work coolies, it is claimed, were em- 
ployed at a time upon such enterprises, which not 
infrequently caused criticism for such lavish ex- 
travagance. 

One of the earliest, commonest and most needed 
institutions for relief was the establishment of the 
Giso* the public charity granary, where rice was 
received as taxes and stored as a community provi- 
sion against famine. The practice of building Gisos 
was commenced as early as 702, in imitation of sim- 
ilar institutions already established in China. 

Originally rice was collected from all classes, in- 
cluding the very poor, to fill these granaries, but 
later it was decreed that the rice should be collected 



♦See History of Relief Works in Japan and Our Relief 
Works and Charitable Enterprises, published by Bureau for 
Local Affairs, Home Department 



200 MODERN JAPAN 

from the middle and tipper classes. In course of 
time many interesting methods of giving aid 
to needy members of a province or community were 
introduced. In some localities the poor paid taxes 
except in times of famine, when they were partially 
or wholly exempted from taxation. Pensions to 
orphans and to the aged were sometimes granted in 
the form of certain annual allowances of rice. A 
custom became prevalent for rich or prosperous per- 
sons to donate a tract of land to the community for 
relief purposes. Such customs still obtain in Japan, 
though relief works have been extended to educa- 
tional and various other public welfare enterprises. 

After the decline of the influence of the Fujiwara 
family, who more or less dominated the Court from 
670-1050, the Central Government deteriorated, and 
there followed a series of internal rebellions and 
struggles among the nobles. In consequence of these 
almost incessant civil wars, society became greatly 
demoralized ; various industries were paralyzed, and 
for want of employment vagrants and beggars were 
so common and suffered such extreme want and dis- 
tress that it was not uncommon for men, women and 
children to die along the wayside from starvation, 
exposure or lack of medical care. During this pe- 
riod community relief work was largely neglected 
or abandoned and all benevolences were in the hands 
of the Buddhist priests. 

In time, however, the various nobles, in imita- 
tion of the royal families, began to hold themselves 



CHARITIES AND MUTUAL AID 20 r 

responsible for the welfare of the people of their 
respective provinces. Some of the feudal lorcls lived 
most frugally, sometimes even meanly, in order to 
provide ample granaries against floods and famines. 
In fact there was a classic motto commonly known 
which implied tliat a province which had not three 
years' provisions in store against public disasters 
was not qualified to be independent. 

Along with the Giso there was often established 
a public loan fund, made up of rice, wheat, money 
and even medicines and clothing. All members of 
the community contributed to the fund. When nec- 
essary, members of the community might borrow 
from the fund in ordinary times, but must return 
the materials borrowed with interest at the expira- 
tion of a stipulated period. In times of great and 
general distress the city officials doled out the paddy 
of the Giso to the very needy. 

Sometimes, during these intermittent periods of 
public distress, grave social errors were committed 
in the name of charity by well-intentioned rulers. 
Perhaps all debts were cancelled, or the property of 
the well-to-do was confiscated to help the poor, or 
sometimes mortgaged lands were declared disencum- 
bered and reverted to their original owners. Such 
practices naturally must have been demoralizing to 
the people, and, as one author maintains, "diffused 
incurable evils throughout the country." The com- 
mon people, hitherto moderately industrious, degen- 
erated ''into a mob of idlers and sturdy beggars." 



202 MODERN JAPAN 

On the other hand, many of the benevolent enter- 
prises of the early nobles were most commendable 
and are worthy of imitation to-day. One initiated 
in 1666 by Maeda-Tsunanori, Lord of Kaga Prov- 
ince, was particularly noteworthy. He ordered the 
officials of various provinces to take a census of the 
beggars, after which, contrary to the advice of his 
councilors, who considered the project too daring 
and impracticable, he tindertook the care and hous- 
ing of two thousand homeless wanderers. He built 
houses for their accommodation near his castle and 
doled out rice from his store-house to feed them. 
He built a hospital for the sick and workshops 
wherein the well might learn useful trades. An ef- 
fort was made to discover the special aptitudes of 
every individual and to train each one along some 
useful line in accordance with his taste. Useful arti- 
cles were made in the shops for which there was a 
public demand, and the proceeds from the sales of 
these articles went to support the institution. When 
the inmates had learned a useful trade they were sent 
out provided with clothing, rice and money. Some- 
times they married and Sorrowed from the loan fund 
in order to purchase tools and materials for colo- 
nizing. 

Within a short tfme this institution became self- 
supporting, and the money which Maeda had used 
for developing the enterprise was paid back. A sec- 
ondary noteworthy feature was the manner in which 
the beggars who entered the institution were han- 



CHARITIES AND MUTUAL AID 203 

died. It is recorded that they were no longer treated 
as beggars, but with "rare deHcacy" they were 
taught self-rehance and self-respect. Instead of 
calling their dwellings ''beggar shelters," they were 
called "honorable lodgings where belated travelers 
through life might purchase rest and refreshment 
before starting on their journeys again." 



II 



Systematized neighborhood aid was also an early 
institution in Japan. The province or clan was 
sometimes grouped in families of five for mutual 
help. If one became ill or in need, he must first 
appeal to this group before applying to the com- 
munal or provincial authorities for assistance. 

Most interesting of all were the various early en- 
terprises developed for mutual and community ben- 
efits. Burial societies were frequently organized in 
the various communities with a view to aiding the 
sick or of performing a free burial service in case 
of death. These guides often extended the scope 
of their benevolences to aiding the worthy poor or 
to helping them pay off their debts by loaning them 
rice at half-rate interest. Gradually more and more 
guilds were formed for public relief works, such as 
building much-needed bridges, rebuilding villages 
which had been destroyed or damaged by fires, floods 
or earthquakes. Sometimes waste lands were re- 
claimed and put under cultivation, the proceeds be- 



204 MODERN JAPAN 

ing devoted to public welfare enterprises. It appears 
that in early Japan there were many such enterprises, 
some of which are still extant Of late years public 
funds from such sources have been diverted to edu- 
cational purposes. 

In Sagana there is a small mountain village made 
up of perhaps two hundred families. Since the mid- 
dle of the Tokugawa regime (1600 1868) there has 
been a rush society in this village for the purpose of 
thatching the roofs. The village is divided into five 
sections, one group taking on the thatching of all 
the roofs each year. A day is appointed for the 
task when the farmers are not busy, and at the ap- 
pointed time all the families in the section assemble. 
Each family contributes two loads of rushes and one 
sho of rice. Usually forty or fifty people set to work 
and in a day the whole village is thatched. 

Collective community tree planting has also been 
an old-estabHshed custom in Japan, and in recent 
years has been more generally practised than for- 
merly. During and after the Russo-Japanese War 
whole villages commemorated certain great victories 
by planting barren hillsides. One village — Iwane, 
in Shuga — planted four million trees in thirteen 
days. Thousands of acres, it is said, have been 
planted in this way. In many cases the income ac- 
cruing from these public forests is devoted to the 
support of the families of men who died in the war. 
Sometimes the income is turned over to the Red 
Cross Fund. 



CHARITIES AND MUTUAL AID 205 

In many of the -smaller villages assiduity organiza- 
tions have been formed for the purpose of encour- 
aging both landlords and tenants in agricultural 
enterprises and also in initiating various auxiliary 
industries to help the communities. If public work 
needs to be done, the members of these organizations 
volunteer their services. Other organizations have 
competitive contests in such work as rope-twisting, 
sheave-binding and mulberry-planting.^ 

The chief auxiliary industry of Japan is sericul- 
ture. The district of Hagri contains about six thou- 
sand three hundred houses, of which five thousand 
are engaged in raising the silk-worm, the annual in- 
come from which totals five hundred thousand yen. 
This district now has about twenty-two small train- 
ing schools, in which the people are instructed in 
methods of feeding and handling the silk-worm so 
as to obtain the best results. In this way silk-raising 
as an avocation has spread so rapidly that now there 
are districts in which there is scarcely a house which 
has not a room devoted to raising the silk-worm. 

Obviously, the nature of the early charities and 
benevolences of Japan leaned usually in the direc- 
tion of mutual aid among the smaller social groups, 
but general calamities Hke floods, earthquakes and 
famines now and then pressed the people to band 
themselves together on a larger scale. Many of 
these early organizations for mutual benefits still 
survive, although their activities have generally been 
ijiodified to meet modem demands and conditions. 



2o6 MODERN JAPAN 

III 

The new era of industrial Japan has developed 
new exigencies, and the spirit of mutual aid has 
fallen somewhat into decay. Largely through the in- 
stigation or on the initiation of the foreign mission- 
aries. Western methods of giving charity and social 
aid have been adopted, so that to-day Japan abounds 
in organizations such as the Y. M, C. A., the Y. W. 
C A., the W. C. T. U., the Salvation Army, the 
Young Men's Buddhist Associations patterned after 
the Y. M. C. A., charity hospitals, open air schools, 
day nurseries for children of the poor, free employ- 
ment bureaus, orphanages, asylums for defectives, 
hospitals for lepers and tuberculars, homes for the 
aged, for ex-convicts, for invalided soldiers, for 
tramps and vagrants, and schools for delinquent 
children. In fact, there is almost no modern Euro- 
pean or American "uplift" enterprise which has not 
been attempted in Japan, and in tracing them back 
to their origins almost invariably one finds they have 
been initiated or suggested by the missionary. 

The results of these endeavors at reform and 
benevolence, generally combined with religious 
propaganda, either Christian or Buddhist, are now 
scattered more or less throughout the whole empire. 
The latest accessible reports* inform us that there 
are now 414 charitable and benevolent enterprises 



*The Japan Year Book for 1916, page 225. 



CHARITIES AND MUTUAL AID 207 

costing about one and a half million yen annually 
and giving aid and protection to over fifteen thou- 
sand persons. But even with all this effort there is 
great need for more to be done. For instance, there 
are at present about twenty- four thousand lepers in 
Japan, and hospital accommodations for only five 
per cent, of the number afflicted. Besides these gen- 
eral public benevolences, there are patriotic philan- 
thropies of which the Red Cross work is the most 
important. The statistics of this organization in 
1914 showed that it possessed two hospital ships, 
fifteen hospitals, 142 medical corps, 205 doctors and 
pharmacists and 5,387 nurses. The total member- 
ship of the society numbered 1,694,796, their an- 
nual expenditure was 2,820,997,863 yen, and the 
sum total of their property amounted to 29,308,- 
707,647 yen. In 1914 the society decided to devote 
ten per cent, of their annual receipts for six years 
to efforts at prevention of tuberculosis. When the 
great war broke out in 19 14 this society dispatched 
three relief corps to Europe. 

There is also an auxiliary organization to the Red 
Cross of volunteer nurses having a membership of 
nearly fourteen thousand. In ordinary times the 
members prepare bandages and attend monthly lec- 
tures on rescue work. It is interesting to note that 
there is a branch of this society in nearly every pre- 
fecture. 

The largest and most important women's or- 
ganization in Japan is the Women's Patriotic Society 



2o8 MODERN JAPAN 

which has a membership of nearly nine hundred 
thousand. This organization owes its inception to 
Madam Okumura, who, after having witnessed the 
frightful conditions during the Boxer uprising in 
China in 1900, was inspired to do something to or- 
ganize the women of her country for relief work in 
time of war. This organization disburses annual 
relief amounting to one hundred and fifty thousand 
yen to invalid soldiers and their families and keeps 
a workhouse for the disabled ones. It also concerns 
itself with the schooling of soldiers' orphans. At 
present they are schooling 639 boys. Patriotic lec- 
tures and celebrations are given by this organization 
with a view to stimulating patriotism. In this re- 
spect this work is considered by many Japanese 
rather futile, since lack of patriotism is no fault of 
the Japanese, high or low, rich or poor. On the con- 
trary, they seem overcharged with nationalism of 
a somewhat belated order, ambitious for mere na- 
tional glory. To such a point, in fact, does this 
spirit prevail that many would sacrifice the best so- 
cial interests of the community, state or nation, to 
further such ends. 

Aside from the private charities in Japan, there 
are two other important sources of relief and be- 
nevolences. The Court has always been most gener- 
ous, and during recent years has liberally supported 
almost every important relief work of the country, 
whether under Christian, Buddhist or State man- 
agement. Porter informs us that "the splendid mu- 



CHARITIES AND MUTUAL AID 209 

nificence of the Royal Family of Japan has been a 
shining example to philanthropists throughout the 
Empire. There is scarcely a charitable undertak- 
ing, Christian or Buddhist, which can not claim the 
recognition or support of the Emperor or Empress, 
or of the Princes or Princesses of the Blood Royal, 
and Imperial benevolence mitigates the effect of 
every calamity that overtakes the country. The 
scale upon which the Emperor's gifts are conceived 
is lavish enough to be remarkable even in a land 
where the liberality of the monarch is traditional."* 
A second source of relief, aside from private and 
Court donations, is the State. In view of the fre- 
quent natural calamities, causing widespread dis- 
tress, the State has almost been forced to enact leg- 
islation so that prompt relief may be given when 
needed. The relief regulations of 1880 provide 
that each administration prefecture shall create a 
permanent reserve fund with a minimum of five 
hundred thousand yen. The State shall undertake 
to hand over every year for ten years an amount to 
be fixed in proportion to that set apart by the pre- 
fecture toward the fund. Now, in case of great 
calamities like floods, earthquakes, extensive fires, 
plagues from vermin or kindred pests, the Central 
Government promptly dispatches warships or sol- 
diers with clothing, provisions, fuel and medical aid, 
and gives or loans the survivors resources such as 



^Porter, Japattt The New World Power, page 597. 



2IO MODERN JAPAN 

timber from the State forests and tools for rebuild- 
ing. The State also donates funds for disburse- 
ments in the support of foundlings, orphans, infants, 
decrepit persons and invalids with no relatives to 
care for them. 

IV 

One of the most exemplary efforts along the line 
of public welfare conducted and supported by the 
State is that of prison management and reform. The 
accepted attitude toward prisoners on the part of 
the Government is that of amelioration and cor- 
rection rather than punishment and revenge. 
Since 1870 prisoners have been regarded by the 
State as possible good citizens who may be 
reclaimed from bad habits and bad surround- 
ings. Moreover, the keeping and management of 
prisoners have not been in the hands of desultory 
appointees or politicians. Men who go into prison 
management, whether in high or low positions, are 
required to take a special course of training to fit 
them specifically for such work. 

A school for such training was established in To- 
kyo in 1900. The course of study covers penal and 
civil codes, penology, procedure, criminology, prison 
sanitation, hygiene and drill. Under-officials must 
first serve probationary terms, assisting in the pris- 
ons, after which they must pass examinations before 
being appointed to positions. 

The results of expert prison management in Ja- 



CHARITIES AND MUTUAL AID 211 

pan are most favorable, and Western nations might 
do well to re-learn from the Japanese much that the 
Japanese learned originally from us and other West- 
ern nations. Perhaps in this line of modern prison 
reform work, better than in any other, is typified the 
customary habit of this intelligent people of learning 
all they can from Western nations and returning 
home to adapt — ^with improvements — what they 
have learned, to their own conditions. 

One finds the prisons in Japan plain, but clean 
and sanitary, the living simple but wholesome, the 
discipline humane and kindly, never arbitrary or 
dictatorial. The prisons are usually more like dor- 
mitories with doors and windows open, letting in the 
fresh air, while the men are scattered about the 
various prison workshops cheerful and smiling. Ap- 
parently there exists no lack of careful discipline, 
but there is no bullying or undue rigor, such as is 
common in our own prisons. 

An exemplary system of rewards and punishments 
for good and bad conduct, with commutation of 
time for a good record, has been instituted. The 
granting of medals is part of the reward system. 
The possession of a medal brings special privileges, 
such as* an increased rate of earnings, more inter- 
views with friends and relatives, or favors in con- 
nection with baths, which are highly valued. 

*See Porter, Japan, The New World Power, chapter xxv ; 
Japan Year Book, 1916; and Our Relief Works and Charit- 
able Enterprises, by the Home Department. 



212 MODERN JAPAN 

The expense of maintaining a prisoner averages 
a little more than one hundred yen per year, one- 
fourth of which is defrayed by the proceeds of 
prison labor. Prisoners who work of their own 
accord receive wages according to the time at work 
and the labor achieved. If they have families de- 
pendent upon them, a certain amount is deducted 
from the earnings for the dependent relatives; if 
not, all their earnings are handed to them when they 
are liberated. 

Courses of primary and higher education are of- 
fered to those desiring them, and books for reading 
are furnished to those who do not wish to partici- 
pate in the study classes. Courses in industrial 
training are also offered, chiefly with a view to pre- 
paring the untrained men for some useful occupa- 
tion. 

Much has been accomplished in the way of aid- 
ing dismissed prisoners. A number of homes have 
been established for liberated prisoners where men 
may come and go with considerable freedom be- 
fore and after employment is found for them. But 
at present only one per cent, is cared for in this way. 
An organization for the protection of discharged 
prisoners has also proved effective. These organi- 
zations, of which there are now fifty-five in all, have 
self-governing* bodies to extend protection to pris- 



*See Our Relief Works and Charitable Enterprises, Home 
Department. 



CHARITIES AND MUTUAL AID 213 

oners whenever they are discharged. It is claimed 
that seventy per cent, of all prisoners discharg^ed in 
Japan are restored to good citizenship, thirty per 
cent, having proved incorrigible. 

Besides these larger State, Court and public chari- 
ties and benevolences, there are many unrecorded 
private efforts at giving assistance, principally along 
educational lines. There are a great many people, 
some with large incomes and others with very limit- 
ed incomes, who are constantly aiding one or sev- 
eral young men — and sometimes young women — to 
procure an education. 

Another long-established method of aiding fami- 
lies, caring for orphans or of assisting the sons of 
a poorer friend is through adoption. "It is strange 
but true," says Chamberlain,* "that you may go 
often into a Japanese family and find half a dozen 
persons calling each other parent and child, brother 
and sister, uncle and nephew, and yet being really 
either no blood relation at all, or else relations in 
quite different degrees from those conventionally 
assumed. . . . Adoption is resorted to, not only 
to prevent the extinction of families and the conse-. 
quent neglect of the spirits of the departed, but also 
in order to regulate the size of families. Thus a 
man with too many children hands over one or more 
of them to some friend who has none. To adopt a 
person is also the simplest way to leave him money." 

♦Chamberlain, Things Japanese, pages 17-18. 



214 MODERN JAPAN 

Formerly most orphans were taken care of through 
this custom of adoption. 

Aside from the various charitable and benevolent 
activities already discussed, there has been some ef- 
fort at constructive social welfare, but such work 
has been very limited and has been initiated chiefly 
by evangelical missionaries who are not especially 
trained along the various lines attempted. Most 
of the missionaries now in Japan are engaged in 
educational work, and by many of the missionaries 
themselves it is generally hoped that in the future 
trained social welfare workers will be sent instead 
of the ordinary missionary educators. 



CHAPTER XII 

THE GOVERNMENT AND CONSTITUTION 
I 

The Government of Japan may perhaps best be 
described as a military-bureaucratic-clan aristocracy 
or oligarchy,* veiled by representative forms. Its 
policy in matters fundamental is essentially dictated 
and controlled by relatively few clans, families and 
individuals, consisting of members of the Imperial 
Family and Household, representatives of the great 
Satsuma and Choshu clans, leaders of the official 
and military classes and certain leading business men. 

The basic fact in the long course of Japan's po- 
litical history is the psychological unity and racial 
homogeneity of her people. "For more than five 
and twenty centuries, ever since the embryo of their 
national life began to develop under the leadership 
of the first Emperor, Jimmu,t the Japanese have 



♦According to the Aristotelian terminology the term "aris- 
tocracy" would perhaps be the more accurate. For it must 
be admitted that the rulers of modern Japan have, in the 
main, ruled in the national interest. But theirs is a govern- 
ment for rather than hy or of the people. 

fOf course no modern scientific historians other than Jap- 
anese accept this fabulous date of a mythical Emperor. All 
history prior to 645 A. D. is purely conjectural. 

215 



2i6 MODERN JAPAN 

always lived under one and the same government, 
and have scrupulously maintained their ethnic unity. 
Throughout the country they have a common lan- 
guage, a common custom and tradition, and a com- 
mon mode of life; and they as a people have, in 
spite of wide individual variation, a certain consist- 
ency and individuality in feeling and thought which 
are expressed in any phase of the national life/** 

The fundamental principle of Japanese statecraft 
is the Divine Right of the Emperor and of the Im- 
perial Dynasty. 

"The Empire of Japan shall be reigned over and 
governed by a line of Emperors unbroken for ages 
eternal.f 

"The Emperor is sacred and inviolable. 

"The Emperor is the head of the Empire, com- 
bining in himself the rights of sovereignty, and he 
exercises them according to the provisions of the 
present Constitution." 

*Uyehara, The Political Development of Japan, page 5. 
Into the much controverted question of the racial origin of 
the Japanese people, we have not found it necessary to ven- 
ture. We agree with Uyehara when he says : "It matters not 
one iota, so far as the development of the Japanese nation 
is concerned, whether we claim that the parent stock of the 
Japanese came from Turkestan or Tibet, from the coast of 
India or from the Malay peninsula, or whether we proclaim 
the island of Kiushiu as the source of the Japanese race." 

t"The Sacred Throne was established at the time when 
the Heavens and the Earth became separated (Kojiki). The 
Emperor is Heaven-descended, divine and sacred. . . . He 
must be reverenced and is inviolable," — Ito, Commentaries, 
page 7. 



THE GOVERNMENT 217 

It must, however, be admitted that the absolutism 
of the Mikado has never degenerated into tyranny 
or despotism. He has ever been regarded as the 
patriarch or ancestral representative of his people 
rather than as their actual ruler. Indeed, he has 
usually been more or less of a figure-head who lived 
in harem-like seclusion and ruled by proxy or rather 
was himself one of the most obedient and restricted 
of the ruled. In this respect he might well be com- 
pared with an English sovereign who likewise "can 
do no wrong." But there is this important differ- 
ence — the King of England has never been actually 
worshipped by his nominal subjects. 

Since the Restoration of 1868 the Mikado has 
partly emerged from his former seclusion and has 
taken a more active part in public affairs. The late 
Emperor Mutsuhito exercised, in fact, a powerful 
influence, though opinions still differ as to the na- 
ture and extent of his influence. At any rate, it is 
generally agreed that his power was wisely exer- 
cised. The present Emperor Yoshihito is a still 
more doubtful factor in the Government. By some 
he is credited with liberal and democratic tenden- 
cies, by others with militaristic and reactionary lean- 
ings. It is certain that he has been carefully trained 
in mind and body, that he concerns himself with the 
general activities and welfare of the people, and 
seems destined to play an important role in the epoch- 
making history of Japan during the coming genera- 
tion. 



2i8 MODERN JAPAN 

II 

The Restoration of the power of the Mikado in 
1868, the most important event in the modem his- 
tory of Japan, was effected by a formidable coaH- 
tion of feudal lords, under the leadership of the 
Choshu and Satsuma clans.* 

The way had been prepared by a sort of literary, 
religious and intellectual renaissance in the latter 
half of the eighteenth and beginning of the nine- 
teenth centuries, more particularly by a study of his- 
tory. Thus, those of the Samurai who were learned 
became convinced that the Shoguns (generals), who 
had ruled Japan through the military class since the 
close of the twelfth century, had usurped their pow- 
er and that the Mikado was the true or legitimate 
ruler. 

When Commodore Perry clamored for admit- 
tance at one of the gates of Japan in 1853, the pow- 
er of the Tokugaw^a Shogunatef had already begun 



*A clan is a sort of territorial clique of feudal lords and 
their retainers or personal followers (formerly Samurai). 
The ties of friendship and brotherhood engendered by the 
feudal system with its mutual obligations of patronage and 
service have survived the abolition of feudalism in 1871. 
But "clan government does not refer so much to the con- 
tinuance of the feudal spirit as to the monopolizing of power 
by the representatives of a few of the clans to the exclusion 
of the others." — McClaren, page 61. 

tThis dynasty of Shoguns was founded by the great 
general and statesman lyeyasu in 1603. He inaugurated a 
reign of peace which lasted for about 250 years and gave 



THE GOVERNMENT 219 

to wane. Perry's opportune arrival merely set in 
motion forces which hastened and eventually pre- 
cipitated the downfall of this dynasty. The various 
elements opposed to the Shogunate and hostile to 
the **hairy red-bearded barbarians" united in a cru- 
sade in favor of the so-called restoration of Imperial 
rule — a unification and centralization of power oth- 
erwise necessitated by the critical state of affairs 
both externally and internally. 

The work of the Restoration was completed by 
the total abolition of feudalism in 1871 after all 
but seventeen out of the two hundred and seventy- 
six daimiates had voluntarily surrendered their fiefs. 
This was soon followed on the part of the Samurai 
by the surrender of their privileges and emoluments. 
In this movement the most powerful and influential 
retainers of the Satsuma, Choshu, Tosa and Hizen 
clans played the most important roles, and these four 
clans naturally reaped most of the political rewards 
of their action. In fact, "the disappearance of feu- 
dalism (i. e., of the daimiates) actually served to 



orders for the expulsion of the Jesuit missionaries. Owing 
to fear of aggression, his immediate successors forbade Jap- 
anese from leaving the country and closed the doors of Japan 
to all foreigners (with the exception of the Chinese and a 
Dutch settlement near Nagasaki) — a policy of exclusion 
which was maintained for over two centuries, or until 1854. 
lyeyasu and his successors also succeeded in fastening upon 
the Japanese an elaborate code of regulations and ceremonial 
observances, and a rigid system of class distinctions, the 
effects of which have never been wholly eradicated. 



220 MODERN JAPAN 

strengthen rather than weaken the so-called clan- 
power which upheld the new imperialism in Japan."* 



Ill 



The actual powers vested in the Emperor by the 
Constitution are very extensive. Not only is the 
Mikado the supreme commander of the army and 
navy, but he also "determines the organization and 
peace standing of the army and navy"; he has the 
right to "declare war, make peace and conclude 
treaties" ; he may "proclaim the law of siege" and 
"confer titles of nobility, rank, orders and other 
marks of honor." "The Emperor determines the 
organization of the different branches of the ad- 
ministration and the salaries of all civil and military 
offices, and appoints and dismisses the same"; that 
is, he has complete control over administration. 

"The Emperor exercises the legislative power with 
the consent of the Imperial Diet."t He gives sanc- 

*Putnam Weale, The Coming Struggle in Eastern Asia, 
page 346. 

f'Thus," observes Count Ito vide Commentaries, 2nd ed., 
page 10), "the Emperor is not only the centre of the execu- 
tive, but is also the source and fountain-head of the legisla- 
tive power. . . . The legislative power is ultimately under 
the control of the Emperor, while the duty of the Diet is to 
give advice and consent. Thus between the Emperor and the 
Diet, a distinction is to be strictly maintained as to their 
relative positions." 

It may be observed how closely Count Ito follows his 
Prussian model in this and other respects>. Indeed, the 



THE GOVERNMENT 221 

tion to laws and orders them to be promulgated and 
executed;* "he convokes the Imperial Diet, opens, 
closes and prorogues it, and dissolves the House of 
Representatives. ' ' 

In case the Imperial Diet is not in session and 
there exists an urgent necessity to maintain public 
safety or avert public calamities, the Emperor may 
issue Imperial ordinances v^hich take the place of 
law. Such ordinances are, however, to be laid be- 
fore the Diet at its next session and declared in- 
valid for the future if not approved. But it would 
seem possible for the Emperor and his ministers to 
govern constitutionally in absolute fashion for in- 
definite periods by continuous prorogations and 
dissolutions of Parliament. Count Ito himself rec- 
ognizes this danger. He says: "Should the Gov- 
ernment make use of this power as a pretext for 
avoiding the public deliberations of the Diet or for 
destroying any existing law, the provisions of the 
Constitution would become dead letters.*'-!* 

Even while the Diet is sitting the Emperor may 



analogy between German and Japanese social and political 
institutions becomes more and more striking the more closely 
they are studied and compared. 

*It would seem that not only may the sanction be with- 
held, but that, as in the case of the Factory Law (see infra, 
pages 173-175) > the promulgation of a law may be delayed in- 
definitely. "Sanction completes the process of legislation, 
while promulgation produces binding force upon the sub- 
jects." — Ito, Commentaries, page ii. 

^Commentaries, page i6. 



222 MODERN JAPAN 

issue ordinances "necessary for the carrying out of, 
the laws, or for the maintenance of the pubHc peace 
and order, and for the promotion of the welfare of 
the subjects. But no ordinance shall in any way 
alter any of the existing laws." According to Count 
Ito, administrative ordinances are here meant, but 
he makes it clear that while there must be no con- 
flict with existing law, he does not approve of the 
"erroneous opinion" laid down even in the "Prus- 
sian Constitution," that the executive power of the 
sovereign should be "confined to the execution of 
the provisions of law." It seems to him that "ordi- 
nances are not only means for executing the law, 
but may, in order to meet requirements of given cir- 
cumstances, be used to give manifestation to some 
original idea." In other words, the Japanese bu- 
reaucracy appears in some degree to enjoy a sep- 
arate and original law-making power of its own. 
Here the analogy is with Russia of a former day 
rather than with Prussia. 

These enormous Imperial powers are, of course, 
exercised mainly through ministers and a Privy 
Council. "The respective ministers of State shall 
give their advice to the Emperor, and be respon- 
sible for it. All Laws, Imperial Ordinances and 
Imperial Rescripts, of whatever kind, that relate 
to the affairs of State, require the countersignature 
of a Minister of State."* It will thus be seen that 



^Constitution of Japan, article 55. 



THE GOVERNMENT 223 

the Ministers are responsible to the Emperor instead 
of to Parhament, and that, according to the letter of 
the Constitution, the responsibihty is an individual 
matter rather than a joint or collective one. 

Nevertheless, these Ministers, with a Minister 
President at their head, form a Cabinet v^hich ini- 
tiates and executes general governmental policies. 
True it is that this body has no such joint respon- 
sibility as the British Cabinet, but Ministers do not 
act independently of their colleagues. For the pol- 
icy of his department, each Minister must secure 
the approval of the Cabinet, or at least of the Min- 
ister President, though he is responsible only for the 
action of his own department, whereas the Minister 
President is responsible for the Cabinet as a whole 
as well as the action of each department.* 

IV 

We now approach the mysterious keystone in the 
arch of the Japanese Constitution — the hidden 
power which surrounds divinity itself. Who ap- 
points the Ministers and what are the influences 
which really determine the public actions of his sa- 
cred Majesty? 

The only reference to the subject in the Consti- 



*Uyehara, The Political Development of Japan, pages 137- 
138. This system was expressly designed to prevent the 
evils of party government. Vide Ito, Commentaries, 2nd ed., 
page 140. 



224 MODERN JAPAN 

tution is to a Privy Council which shall "deliberate 
upon important matters of State, when it has been 
consulted by the Emperor." Its functions are purely 
advisory, and it is only consulted upon important 
measures and policies. It consists of thirty-nine 
members, ten of whom are Cabinet Ministers. Its 
decisions, if accepted by the Emperor, are binding 
upon the Cabinet and the nation. Whether the 
Privy Council controls the Cabinet or is controlled 
by it would seem to depend upon which of the two 
is the stronger body at the time. 

Ito tells us that the Emperor established the 
Privy Council so that he could obtain from it 
thorough and impartial information. ''Ministers 
of State have to be acute of mind, quick and active 
in the dispatch of internal and external affairs. But 
the task of planning far-sighted schemes of state- 
craft, and of effectuating new enactments, after a 
careful deliberation and calm reflection, .... 
must be entrusted to a special institution made up 
of men of wide experience and of profound erudi- 
tion.'' They must be "impartial, with no leanings 
to this or that party," and able to "solve all diffi- 
cult problems."* 

Uyehara says that "Each Departmental Minister 
is appointed nominally by the Emperor, usually on 
the advice of the Minister President ; and the Min- 
ister President, as a rule, on the advice of the out- 



*Commentaries, 2nd ed., pages io8, 109. 



THE GOVERNMENT 225 

going Premier, and seldom of the Privy Council. 
The sovereign may choose any one as a minister of 
State, but he lias never done so."* These statements 
may be accurate as far as they go, but they hardly 
express the essential truth of the matter. Not 
merely the appointment and dismissal of the Min- 
istry, but the real control of the Government of the 
country may be said to rest largely in the hands of 
groups or coteries of class leaders who owe alle- 
giance to the Gefvro or Elder Statesmen. 

The Genro or Elder Statesmen have been well 
described as "those statesmen still alive who, be- 
ginning to play small parts at the time of the Resto- 
ration, when they were young men, automatically 
succeeded their elders as years went by and those 
older men had died; then took their places as re- 
sponsible ministers during the first great reconstruc- 
tion period, which may be said to have ended in 
1900; and finally vacated such substantive appoint- 
ments in favor of younger men in order that they 
might surround the Throne as the chief members 
and real controllers of the Emperor's Privy Coun- 
cil, thereby securing continuity of policy and the 
preservation of the old clan-rule under the modem 
and sanctified forms of the West, which had finally 
been adopted so as to allow Japan to enter the fam- 
ily of nations."! 

It has been claimed that the Genro has suffered 



♦Uyehara, op. cit., page 139. 

tPutnam Weale's Coming Struggle in Eastern Asia, page 
369. 



^2(> MODERN JAPAN 

political death or eclipse since the demise of the late 
Emperor Mutsiihito; but recent events seem to dem- 
onstrate that this view is a mistaken one, though it 
may be admitted that their power has somewhat de- 
jclined since 1900. During the winter and spring of 
19 14, while the authors of this book were in Japan, 
they had an opportunity of observing at close range 
the mode of procedure followed during a Ministe- 
rial crisis. 

Upon the resignation of the Yamamoto Ministry, 
on March 24, 191 4, a conference of the capacitated 
surviving Elder Statesmen was promptly called to- 
gether. These were Prince Yamagata, Field Marshal 
Oyama and Marquis Matsukata. Marquis Inouye 
was at first too ill to attend, but joined the conclave 
later to urge the appointment of Count Okuma. 
This council first appealed to Prince Tokugawa and 
then to Viscount Kiyouri, who tried to form a bu- 
reaucratic Ministry of non-party members — an ef- 
fort greeted with general ridicule and contempt on 
the part of the vernacular press. The Genro then 
turned to Count Okuma, the "grand old man" of 
Japan, who succeeded in forming a Ministry. 

Count Okuma is not an Elder Statesman, as is 
often misstated. If he lives and is successful, he 
may possibly be admitted into this sacred and secret 
Inner Circle. There has been a vacancy since the 
death of the late Marquis Inouye. During the Cab- 
inet crisis of December, 191 2, the Elder Statesmen 
held no less than ten conferences, though Prince 



THE GOVERNMENT 227 

Katsura does not seem to have found it necessary 
to consult them in January, 1906, when he recom- 
mended Marquis Saionji as his successor. When 
Saionji resigned in 1908, he in turn recommended 
Katsura as his successor. In 191 1 Saionji again 
displaced Katsura on the latter's recommendation. 
In 191 2 Katsura once more succeeded Saionji on 
the recommendation of the Elder Statesmen. In 
191 3 the Genro recommended Admiral Yamamoto. 
In the main we feel bound to agree with the Jiji 
Shimpo, the Times of Japan, when it says : "In this 
country the work of Cabinet-making at present rests 
in the hands of the Elder Statesmen/'* if by Cabinet- 
making is meant the selection of the Premier or 
Minister President. 



The Japanese Imperial Diet "takes part in legis- 
lation, but has no share in the sovereign power; it 
has power to deliberate upon laws, but none to de- 
termine them."t 

The Diet consists of two Houses — a House of 
Peers and a House of Representatives. Both 
Houses have equal and practically co-ordinate pow- 
ers, though the House of Peers, even if theoretically 
"more strongly constituted and more advantageously 



♦Quoted from Japan Mail (weekly ed.) for August 7, 1915. 
flto, Commentaries, page 68. 



228 MODERN JAPAN 

placed," is nevertheless "much weaker'' than the 
House of Representatives.* 

Count Ito enumerates the following rights or pow- 
ers of the Diet : ( i ) the right to receive petitions ; 
(2) to address the Emperor and make representa- 
tions to him; (3) to put questions to the Govern- 
ment and demand explanations; and (4) the right 
to control the management of the finances. Of these 
the more important and effective are the rights of 
interpellation and of address and representations to 
the Emperor. The right to receive petitions is neg- 
ligible and that of financial control is exceedingly 
limited. It amounts to a certain degree of super- 
vision rather than control, f 

With respect to legislation it may be said that 
each House has a nominal or ineffective initiative, 
but the real initiative rests in the hands of the Gov- 
ernment. "The Ministers of State and the Dele- 
gates of the Government may at any time take seats 
and speak in either House." The deliberations of 
both Houses are public, but the Government may at 
its discretion insist that they be secret. The Con- 
stitution requires that the Imperial Diet be convoked 
every year and a session shall last three months, 



*This is the view of Uyehara, op. c'lt., pages 166 and 208 ff. 

tOn the financial power of the Diet, see especially articles 
62-72 of the Constitution and Ito's Commentaries. See also 
Uyehara, The Political Development of Japan, pages 141-146, 
and Hornbeck, Contemporary Politics in the Far East, pages 
135, 136. On the rights of interpellation and address to the 
Crown, see Uyehara, pages I5i-I59- 



THE GOVERNMENT 229 

except in "case of necessity, when the duration of 
a session may be prolonged by Imperial Order/' In 
addition an extraordinary session may be convoked 
!in case of ^'urgent necessity." In case of dissolution 
of the House of Representatives and a new election, 
*'the new House shall be convoked within five 
months from the day of dissolution.'* The House 
of Peers stands prorogued during this period. 

VI 

The House of Peers is composed of the members 
of the Imperial Family, the orders of nobility, and 
of those persons who have been nominated thereto 
by the Emperor. It consists of several hundred 
hereditary and representative Peers and of one hun- 
dred and twenty- four Imperial nominees (including 
forty Peers and forty-five representatives of the 
highest taxpayers). The latter are elected for seven 
years, one from each prefecture by the fifteen male 
inhabitants thereof who pay the highest taxes. They 
are mostly rich merchants and wealthy land owners. 
The Imperial nominees are mostly government offi- 
cials specially chosen by the Emperor for life on the 
recommendation of Cabinet Ministers. They are of 
course strongly bureaucratic in their sympathies. 

Of the remaining members, the hereditary and 
representative Peers, there are 12 Princes of the 
Blood, 14 Princes, 34 Marquises, 17 Counts, 70 Vis- 
counts and 63 Barons. Peers who are Princes or 



230 MODERN JAPAN 

Marquises sit by right of birth when they reach the 
age of twenty-five. Counts, Viscounts and Barons 
elect representatives from their respective orders. It 
may be said that the Japanese House of Peers is 
not a plutocratic body. Neither is it a stronghold 
of the landed interests as is the British House of 
Lords. It is essentially bureaucratic and represents 
the interests of the clans and of the civil and mili- 
tary classes. 

This body, according to Ito,''' is intended to "rep- 
resent the higher grades of society." He hopes it 
may serve to "preserve an equilibrium between po- 
litical powers, to restrain the undue influence of 
political parties, to check the evil tendencies of irre- 
sponsible discussions, to secure the stability of the 
Constitution, to be an instrument for maintaining 
harmony between the governing and the governed, 
and to permanently sustain the prosperity of the 
country and the happiness of the people.'* 

On the whole it may be said to have fulfilled at 
least some of these expectations. It even turned 
against Count Ito himself in 1901 and mutilated his 
budget when this great statesman attempted to gov- 
ern by means of a political party. Recruited largely 
from nobles and office-holders, it is bureaucratic 
and conservative. Like the Cabinet and the Privy 
Council, it is a stronghold of officialdom and an in- 
strument in the hand of the Japanese oligarchy. 



*Vide Commentaries, pages 72, 73. 



THE GOVERNMENT 231 

The House of Representatives is composed of 
members elected by the people. According' to Ito, 
the members are "not to regard themselves as the 
delegates only of the people of their respective dis- 
tricts, commissioned to attend merely to matters 
entrusted to them by their constituents," but rather 
as "representatives of the people of the w^hole coun- 
try.'^ 

VII 

Since the revised election law of 1900 every male 
Japanese subject not less than twenty-five years of 
age who pays a direct tax of not less than ten yen 
(five dollars)* can vote for members of the House 
of Representatives. Election is by secret unsigned 
ballot, with a general election at least once in four 
years. Under the new law the system of large elec- 
toral districts was substituted for that of small ones 
and an independent electoral district was created 
for municipalities with a population of over thirty 
thousand. "Thus Japan has forty-seven rural elec- 
toral districts which coincide with the prefectural 
administrative districts {fu or ken) to each of 
which are allotted from four to twelve seats, ac- 
cording to their population; and sixty-one urban 
electoral districts, to each of which are allotted from 
one to two seats, except the districts of Tokyo, 
Osaka and Kyoto, which have eleven, six and three 



^Instead of fifteen yen, as formerly. 



232 MODERN JAPAN 

seats respectively."* The law of 1900 increased 
the number of representatives from three hundred 
to three hundred eighty-one and the number of 
possible voters from five hundred thousand to one 
million seven hundred thousand, that is, about one 
thirty- third of the population now enjoy voting 
privileges instead of one eighty-seventh, as was 
formerly the case. This to us astonishing result of 
a five dollar instead of a seven dollar and a half tax 
franchise is, of course, due to the dire poverty of 
the Japanese masses. In spite of the rather heavy 
land taxes, only a small minority of the farmers of 
Japan can qualify as voters. Yet the agrarian inter-* 
ests are well represented in the House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

Still more surprising than the relatively small 
number of electors is the indifference to the fran- 
chise both of the voting and the non-voting popula- 
tion. Not only are the great majority of the voters 
either indifferent or purchaseable, but there appears 
to be no general demand for a wider suffrage. 
This was the case even during the agitation which 
resulted in the law of iQOO.f An extension of the 



*Uyehara, op. cit., pages 178, 179. 

fThus the Japan Mail (weekly ed.), March 25, 191 1, com- 
plains that the passage of a bill in favor of universal suf- 
frage by the House of Representatives should have attracted 
so little attention from Japanese journalists. Judging from 
the summary of the debate given by the Mail in this issue, 
this is not surprising. It would not have been creditable 
to an American high school. 



THE GOVERNMENT 233 

suffrage is demanded by certain politicians, but they 
do not seem to be backed by a strong popular agita- 
tion. None of the pohtical parties at present advo- 
cate universal manhood suffrage. 

During our sojourn in Japan there was some dis- 
cussion of reducing the tax paying qualification 
from ten to five or seven yen and there was some 
sentiment in favor of granting the franchise to all 
graduates of middle schools, thus increasing the 
number of franchise holders by about a quarter of 
a million. But there was no suggestion of an edu- 
cational qualification based upon literacy or elemen- 
tary schooling. 

The following utterance by Mr. Ozaki, one of the 
most radical and progressive of Japanese politicians, 
may serve as a commentary upon the backwardness 
of political conditions in this politically belated 
country : 

"It is the aim of the Government to extend po- 
litical rights of the people as much as possible, and 
we will give them the right to participate in the 
Government to the extent that they sincerely want 
it. It will do more harm than good to give a great 
boon to people who do not realize its value. Let 
the franchise be given to those who seek it. We 
w^ill not hesitate to grant even universal suffrage 
if the Japanese people want it sincerely. The cause 
of much corruption which prevails in Japan today 
can in the last analysis be attributed to the fact that 
the right of voting is possessed by many who do 
not know how to use it or who do not realize its 



234 MODERN JAPAN 

value. So in my opinion the Government would do 
well to take such measures as may develop the in- 
telligence of the people so that the boon of suffrage 
may prove a blessing, not a curse, to the State." 

It may be added that Mr. Ozaki personally fav- 
ored what he called an educational franchise: the 
grant of suffrage to all graduates of the middle 
schools in addition to the present property qualifica- 
tion. He considered even the literate masses too 
ignorant and indifferent to exercise the right of vot- 
ing. Yet his political enemies call hira a dema- 
gogue. 

The truth is that the much-vaunted educational 
system of Japan has failed to implant political ideas 
and aspirations, and that the masses are too heavily 
burdened with taxation to think of much else than 
the struggle for a bare subsistence. 



CHAPTER XIII 

POLITICAL PARTIES AND POLITICS 
I 

Political parties in Japan have naturally aimed 
at participation in political power and privileges. 
Their earliest efforts were directed toward securing 
the grant of a constitution. In 1880 and 18S2, un- 
der the rival leadership of Itagaki and Okuma, re- 
spectivelj, tlie Liberal (Jiju-to) and Progressive 
(Kaishint-to) Parties were organized. Both pai'ties 
had substantially the same purpose — the abolition of 
clan despotism and the introduction of representative 
government; but, owing to temperamentaJ dift'er- 
ences of their leaders, they were unable to co-operate 
toward this common end. In 1885 the present 
Cabinet system was adopted with Count Ito as first 
Premier or Minister President. In 1889 the new 
Imperial Constitution was promulgated. This was 
followed by the first general election and meeting 
of the first Diet in 1890. 

A history of Japanese political parties since 1890 
would be a tedious and unprofitable narrative of 
rapid changes, of kaleidoscopic formations and dis- 
solutions. During the first few years the so-called 
People's Party, really a coalition of existing par- 

235 



236 MODERN JAPAN 

ties or groups, constituted a majority in the Diet, 
which proved very hard to control. In 1892 that 
system of governmental interference and corruption 
in elections, which in Japan has proved so fatal to 
the development of representative and parliamen- 
tary institutions, was introduced. Nevertheless, 
the People's Party was again successful, and in 
1893 its opposition to the budget was finally over- 
come by an Imperial rescript. However, the con- 
flict was soon renewed in consequence of one of 
those public scandals in which the recent history 
of Japan has been so prolific. This scandal arose 
from apparently well-grounded suspicions of im- 
proper relations between the President of the House 
of Representatives and members of the stock ex- 
change. The Minister of Agriculture and Com- 
merce and his Vice-Minister were also involved 
in this disgraceful affair, but the Privy Council, 
when consulted by the Emperor regarding the mat- 
ter, expressed the opinion that while there "seemed 
to be some ground for suspicion as to the irregulari- 
ties of certain officials in the Department of Agri- 
culture and Commerce, ... it was not desir- 
able for Ministers who held office by virtue of the 
confidence of the Sovereign to be removed for so 
trifling a matter."* 

In 1894 the People's Party won another victory 
at the polls and continued an opposition which soon 



*Uyehara, op. cit., page 226. 



POLITICAL PARTIES 22,7 

resulted in another dissolution of the Diet. This 
opposition was suspended during the Chino-Japan- 
ese War, but was renewed after that conflict. 

Count Ito now modified his policy of ''ministerial 
independence," and fomied an open alliance with 
the Jiju'-to or Liberal Party, giving- its leader, Count 
Itagaki, a place in the Cabinet in 1896. In like 
manner Count Matsugata, when he succeeded Ito the 
same year, formed a temporary coalition with Count 
Okuma, leader of the Progressives, who was ap- 
pointed Minister of Foreign Affairs — an arrange- 
ment which lasted until November, 1897, when 
Okuma resigned and thus dissolved the partnership. 

After several more dissolutions and ineffectual 
attempts to form alliances in spite of the opposition 
of all parties, "a meeting of the Elder Statesmen 
(Ito, Yamagata, Saigo, Oyama, Kuroda and 
Inouye) was held to discuss what step the Govern- 
ment should take with regard to political parties. 
It was reported that the discussion which took place 
was extremely heated. Ito, strongly convinced by 
recent developments, contended that the Govern- 
ment ought to establish a definite connection with 
the dominant political party or else to organize a 
party itself which would adhere to the principles of 
clan government and so enable the Ministry properly 
to conduct the business of the State; on the other 
hand, Yamagata argued that to make the Govern- 
ment dependent upon any political party was a 
violation of the spirit of the Constitution, and there- 



238 MODERN JAPAN 

fore the Government must be kept above and 
independent of all political parties."* 

Acting upon the advice of Count Ito, the Em- 
peror, on June 2"], 1898, entrusted the formation 
of a Cabinet to Counts Okuma and Itagaki, the 
leaders of the newly organized Constitutional Par- 
ty, really a combination of the former Progressive 
and Liberal Parties. It now seemed as if the strug- 
gle for parliamentary and real representative gov- 
ernment had been won and that clan oligarchy or 
despotism was at an end.f But alas! for the best 
laid schemes, the quasi-party government proved 
short-lived. In spite of an overwhelming victory at 
the sixth general election, internal strife and rivalry 
over the division of the spoils of office resulted in 
the downfall of the Ministry the same year after a 
period of four months. The Ministry collapsed 
even before the meeting of the new Diet. 

The immediate cause of the Ministry's downfall 
was afforded by the resignation of Mr. Osaki, Min- 
ister of Education. In the course of a lecture this 
radical politician had merely supposed the dream 
of a republican system of government for Japan. 
This statement made in mere form of hypothesis 



*Uyehara, op. cit., pages 235-236. 

tit should, however, be noted that this was »ot a party- 
Cabinet in the English sense. True, with the exception of the 
Ministers of War and the Navy, all the members were party 
men or politicians ; but, with one exception, none of them had 
seats in the Diet. 



POLITICAL PARTIES 239 

was denounced as impolitic and blasphemous and 
forced his resignation. The quarrel over the ap- 
pointment of his successor resulted in the break-up 
of the Ministry. 

After this demonstration of the incapacity of party 
leaders and politicians to hold together, the clan 
statesmen naturally returned to power. *'This ex- 
perience taught both the Elder Statesmen and the 
party leaders that the only course, both for the 
clan statesmen and the political parties, was to join 
hands in the management of national affairs."* 

A second Yamagata Ministry, consisting of Sat- 
suma and Qioshu clan statesmen, was formed which 
was able to govern for several years by forming a 
corrupt alliance with the Kensei-to, or so-called Lib- 
eral Party. We are told that the Ministry sought 
to maintain favor with the Kensei-to by "selling 
public forests and lands, as well as by a special grant 
of funds, both of which demoralized the political 
parties."! They were not admitted to a share in 
the spoils of office which were closed to them by 
civil service regulations. 

In the meantime Count Ito, having become con- 
vinced of the practical necessity of political parties, 
had organized in 1900 a new political party of so- 
called Liberals called the Rikken Seiyii-kai to which 
most of the members of the dissolved Kensei-to 
flocked. In October, 1900, there was created the 

*Oktima*s Fifty Years of New Japan, volume I, page 177. 
Vbid., page 178. 



240 MODERN JAPAN 

fourth Ito Ministry, consisting mainly of members 
of the new party. Thus was formed the second 
quasi-party government in Japan. 

Contrary to his expectations, Ito encountered 
serious opposition in the House of Peers — ^an oppo- 
sition which, coupled with dissension in his own Cab- 
inet, finally resulted in his resignation at the end of 
six months. 

II 

The Elder Statesmen then took counsel and de- 
cided to give the young men a chance, themselves 
retiring from active political life. In June, 1901, 
the Emperor sent for Viscount Katsura, who 
formed a ministry of non-party men, mostly fol- 
lowers of Marquis Yamagata. 

By various means of corruption, compliance and 
conciliation, because of the incapacity of Ito as a 
political leader, and finally, on account of the out- 
break of the Russo-Japanese War, the first ICatsura 
Ministry held together until the close of the con- 
flict when it was driven from power in consequence 
of the unpopularity of the Treaty of Portsmouth. 
It may also be said that the political parties had 
wearied of fighting for political principles and were 
more amenable than formerly to corrupt influences 
or inducements offered by the Government. 

Early in 1906 Marquis Saionji, who had suc- 
ceeded Ito as leader of the Seiyw-kai, was appointed 
Premier on Katsura' s recommendation. His Min- 



POLITICAL PARTIES 241 

istry of non-party members was supported by the 
Seiyu-kai and enjoyed the favor of the Elder States- 
men, even if he was not directly appointed by them. 
In accordance with what seems to have been a se- 
cret understanding, Katsura succeeded Saionji upon 
the latter's resignation in 1908 and likewise enjoyed 
the support of the Seiyu-kai or majority party in 
the House of Representatives. In 191 1, after 
numerous conferences of the Elder Statesmen,* 
Saionji again succeeded Katsura and in December, 
1 91 2, Katsura succeeded Saionji the second time. 

The Third Katsura Ministry was extremely short- 
lived. In consequence of riots, public meetings and 
mob demonstrations it was soon driven from power. 
"I am the last of the clan statesmen," Katsura is 
reported to have said. In this he was mistaken, for 
in February, 191 5, he was succeeded by Admiral 
Yamamoto, who made a deal with the Seiytp-kai by 
sharing with this party the spoils of office. The 
real hub on which the politics of Japan appears to 
have revolved was the struggle between the Choshu 
representatives of the army and the Satsuma men 
of the navy. Katsura had been a general and was 
believed to have favored the army. Yamamoto 
represented the Satsuma clique of the navy. 

Ehiring the administration of Admiral Yama- 



*In this instance, at least, Katsura was not recommended' 
by Saionji. He was bitterly opposed by the Seiyu-kai, and 
hence set about the formation of a new party in which he 
was not very successful. 



242 MODERN JAPAN 

moto a state of affairs in the navy was revealed 
which it is hoped represents the lowest water mark 
in the history of Japanese political corruption. 
The naval scandals, in which were legally implicated 
five high naval officers (including rear admirals), 
one of Japan's leading business firms, the Mitsui 
Yussan PCaisha, and a number of leading business 
men, form one of the most disgraceful chapters in 
the nation's history. The worst of these charges 
concerned Vice-Admiral Matsumoto, who was con- 
victed of having accepted enormous bribes from 
the Mitsui firm as part commission on a warship 
ordered from Vickers in England in 19 lo. The 
various sums paid to Matsumoto, as proved in 
court, amounted to more than two hundred thousand 
dollars. It was generally believed in Japan that 
this money was divided among various members of 
the naval clique. Certainly the Japanese Govern- 
ment was in no haste to prosecute. Admiral Mat- 
sumoto was not arrested until after the fall of the 
Yamamoto Ministry. 

Like the unpopular third Katsura Ministry of the 
year before, the Yamamoto Cabinet, in consequence 
of a series of riots and mob demonstrations, was 
driven from power in March. Under the circum- 
stances, the Genro were compelled to bow to the 
storm and yield to the force of public opinion. They 
finally turned to the aged Count Okuma, now nearly 
seventy-eight years of age, the life-long champion of 



POLITICAL PARTIES 243 

party government and free institutions, who had 
thus characterized his predecessor: 

"I cannot but admire the thickness of skin upon 
Gombei's (Prince Yamamoto's) face. He has been 
called thief, liar, and yet persists in disgracing and 
polluting the honorable post [of the Premiership]. 
If the present Premier at all knows what shame is, 
he should have bidden farewell to his public career 
and hidden his face in abashed contrition. 

"To disregard the popular indignation is a ter- 
rible thing. Should it be resisted too much, it would 
end in revolution, if the history of the world's great- 
est revolution tells us anything. Can Japan alone 
be an exception to the rule?" 

As far back as 1898 Count Okuma had formed 
a coahtion Cabinet including himself and Itagaki as 
leaders of the progressive and liberal factions, but 
that attempt to establish party government failed 
and he had never enjoyed another opportunity to 
participate directly in governmental affairs. In the 
meantime he had resigned his position as leader of 
the Progressive Party, but as "Sage of Waseda Uni- 
versity," which he had founded in earlier years, 
he continued to play an important role as critic of 
Japanese politics. He had always remained true 
to his earlier convictions as advocate of parliamen- 
tary and representative government, and had even 
sacrificed place and power in defense of these prfn- 
ciples. 



244 MODERN JAPAN 

Owing to the state of parties in Japan, Okuma 
was unable to realize his ideal of a two party sys- 
tem on the English pattern, but was compelled to 
form a sort of coalition Ministry which included 
Baron Kato, head of the Doshi-kai or Bureaucratic 
Party, and Mr. Ozaki, leader of the Chusei-kai or 
Parliamentary Club of Radical Opportunists. He 
was unfortunately unable to induce his own friend 
and successor as chief of the Kokumin-to or Pro- 
gressive-Rationalists, Mr. Imukai, to join the Cab- 
inet, though the latter appears to have given assur- 
ances of benevolent neutrality. 

Hampered and opposed by the Seiyu^kai party, 
which commanded a majority in the House of Rep- 
resentatives and was also strongly intrenched in the 
politics of local government, Okuma finally dis- 
solved the Diet and appealed to the country in the 
early part of 19 15-6. 

ni 

At this time there were active in Japanese politics 
the following parties or factions : 

I. The Seiyu-kai, Liberals or Constitutionalists 
(hterally "Association of PoHtical Friends"). This 
party was created by the late Prince Ito in 1900 and 
is, historically speaking, the successor of an older 
Liberal Party. Prince Ito, a disbeliever in parlia- 
mentary government, had apparently become con- 
vinced of the evil necessity of party support, either 



POLITICAL PARTIES 245 

for the maintenance of his own power or for that 
of "constitutional" government. But the metnbers 
of the party disappointed his expectations and he 
soon retired from its leadership. He was suc- 
ceeded by Marquis Saionji, but at present the real 
leader is Mr. Hara, late Minister of the Interior. 
For nearly a decade the Seiyii-kcd had enjoyed an 
absolute majority in the House of Representatives, 
but its political future was seriously compromised 
by its alliance with Count Yamamoto and its pref- 
erence of the spoils of office to political principle. 

2. The Rikken Doshi-kai, the Constitutional 
Unionists or Bureaucratic Party (literally "Society 
of Men of Similar Ideas"), which was founded by 
the late Prince Katsura in 19 13 as a means of se- 
curing power after the downfall of his third Minis- 
try. Its leader is Baron Kato, the late Minister 
of Foreign Affairs. Though of bureaucratic origin, 
it obtained an accession of liberal or democratic 
elements and became the main support of Count 
Okuma and his liberal program. 

3. The Kokumin-fo or Nationalist Party, which 
was organized in 1 910 by members of the Progres- 
sive Party created by Count Okuma in 1882. It 
became divided in 191 3 between those who proposed 
to effect a coalition with Prince Katsura and those 
who stood out for its traditional anti-bureaucratic 
principles. In consequence of this division, about 
half of its members deserted and joined the Doshi- 
kai or Prince Katsura*s new party. The feelings 



246 MODERN JAPAN 

engendered by this split probably account for the 
refusal of its leader, Mr. Inukai, to accept a port- 
folio in Count Okuma's Ministry. 

4. The Chusei-kai or Seiyu Club, which is a 
small parliamentary organization formed by Mr. 
Ozaki early in 191 3, when the Seiyiv-kai made an 
alliance with Count Yamamoto. Its leader was the 
Minister of Justice and its members were supporters 
of Count Okuma. 

There were also a number of "Okuma supporters*' 
and "Independents." 



IV 



During the election of 191 5 Count Okuma and at 
least some of his supporters seem to liave made a 
sincere effort to prevent and discourage corruption, 
but apparently with indifferent success. In some 
localities the voters were directly bribed, in others 
the candidates followed the old custom of contribut- 
ing to a fund for village or local improvement. 
Early in the campaign many "bubble candidates'* 
had presented themselves. After securing a cer- 
tain number of promises to vote, these very practical 
politicians were then ready to withdraw from the 
field and transfer their promised votes for a con- 
sideration. In many constituencies in Japan there 
are professional canvassers who form cliques under 
local bosses. Candidates often find it necessary 
to bid against each other for the support of these 



4i 



POLITICAL PARTIES 247 

cliques and bosses who are said to apply the 
"squeeze" to the utmost. The "canning" or "bot- 
tling" of votes and the "netting" process were also 
practised. The former consists in persuading the 
doubtful voter to take a trip or to go to some resort 
on election day ; the latter, in inducing him to spend 
the night before the election at some hotel near the 
polling places, his expenses being paid after six 
months (to evade the election laws) by the candi- 
date.* The sums spent for election are said to range 
from one thousand dollars to twenty-five thousand 
dollars, the average cost being somewhere between 
three thousand dollars and thirty-five hundred dol- 
lars — a very large sum in Japan. f There are no laws 
governing election expenses, though bribery and 
other corrupt practices are penalized. 

There were, however, some evidences of improve- 
ment; there was no rioting or bloodshed; public 
meetings wtre more frequent than formerly; and 
members of the Cabinet took the stump for the first 
time. Baron Kato is said to have made the first 
speech ever made by a Foreign Minister to a politi- 
cal gathering, and Count Okuma made a regular 
political tour. For this he was severely criticized 
by the ultra-conservatives who claim that this prac- 
tice is undignified. There seems also to have been 
considerable distribution of printed matter. But 



♦These details were gathered from conversations and 
from the newspapers. 

fFrom the Japan Year Book for 1914, page 650. 



248 MODERN JAPAN 

the main reliance in a present-day Japanese political 
campaign is house to house canvassing, as the Japa- 
nese are still in that rudimentary stage of political 
education where personal influence and solicitation 
count for more than discussion. 

A new feature of the campaign was the beginning 
of the participation of Japanese women in the work 
of canvassing and soliciting votes. A number of 
the candidates were actively supported by their 
wives, and in one case by the mother and daugh- 
ters as well. There was, however, much disapproval 
of this novel practice. 

The result of the election of 191 5 was a "land- 
slide" in favor of the Okuma Government. The 
Seiyu^kai Party, evidently discredited by its support 
of the Yamamoto Cabinet, had dwindled from 205 
to 107 members in the House of Representatives, 
and the number of Doshi-kai members and Okuma 
supporters had increased very considerably. The 
Kokumirirto faction or so-called Progressives and 
Ozaki's body of supporters known as the Chusei-kai 
remained about stationary. In the new House of 
Representatives Okuma commanded a support of 
about 210 members, consisting of 145 members of 
the Doshi-kai (Bureaucratic Party founded by Kat- 
sura), 35 Chusei-kai or Ozaki followers, and 30 
Okuma supporters. The opposition consisted of 
107 members of the Seiyu-kai and 27 of the Koku- 
min-to party (led by lunkai). Besides these fac- 
tions, there were 37 members classed as Independ- 



POLITICAL PARTIES 249 

ents, though most of them seemed favorable to 
Okuma, whose majority may thus be said to have 
been about 100. 

In spite or perhaps because of this overwhelming 
majority of supporters, Okuma's political path was 
far from smooth. Apart from his conduct of for- 
eign affairs, he was severely criticized by some of 
his former supporters for neglecting to establish a 
regime of party government, and for failing to sever 
the ties which seemed to bind even his Government 
to the Elder Statesmen. He yielded, so it is 
claimed, to the very influences which he so severely 
criticized when he was in opposition. 

Count Okuma's severest ordeal, so far as home 
politics is concerned, was the discovery that his 
Home Minister, Viscount Oura, had been employ- 
ing a favorite means of corruption — direct bribery 
— to secure votes in Parliament in favor of the two 
division army bill. Acting upon the theory of nom- 
inal or technical responsibility, the Premier tendered 
his resignation which was rejected by the Mikado 
after repeated conferences on the part of the Elder 
Statesmen. In view of the serious situation both 
at home and abroad, Okuma finally decided to re- 
main in power with a reconstructed Cabinet. 

The reconstructed Okuma Cabinet remained in 
power until October, 19 16, when it was succeeded 
by a new bureaucratic government headed by Count 
Terauchi, a representative of the military-clan oli- 
garchy ruled by Prince Yamagata. Okuma had 



250 MODERN JAPAN 

recommended as his successor Baron Kato, his Min- 
ister of Foreign Affairs and head of the Doshi-kai 
Part37. But the Elder Statesmen proved as power- 
ful as ever in this crisis, and dictated the selection 
of Count Terauchi. The Doshi-kai was dissolved 
and a new party formed known as the Kensei-kai, in 
support of the Government. 

It seems certain that the "grand old man of 
Japan'' failed in his great and life-long purpose 
of introducing parliamentary government into the 
Orient, He has himself admitted his failure, and 
even while still Premier sought refuge from public 
criticism by invoking the name of the Emperor — a 
practice which he had formerly condemned. For 
he is reported to have said : "The present Cabinet 
is the choice of the Emperor and any person among 
his subjects venturing to criticize his ministry is 
active against the will of the Emperor."* 

This experiment in party government was made 
under very unfavorable auspices, but it seems most 
unlikely that any real progress in this direction will 
ever be made so long as the power of the clan oli- 
garchy as represented by the Elder Statesmen, the 
Privy Council and the House of Peers survives. 



There can be no question that political cor* 
ruption exists to a frightful degree in Japan. As 

*Cited from Hornbeck, Contemporary Politics in the Far 
Bast, page i86. 



POLITICAL PARTIES 251: 

early as 1906 Count Okuma said at a meeting of 
Progressives: ** Unfortunately a great abuse of the 
electoral system had arisen in Japan. Men of mod- 
erate means could not bear the expense of elections, 
and even men of good means were crippled by it. 
The origin of this abuse was to be sought in official 
interference. This had been frequent, and now it 
had taken the form of secret purchase of votes."* 

Count Okuma supposed that the abolition of the 
system of large constituencies and the adoption of 
unsigned ballots would correct these evils, but he 
would probably now admit that this was an illu- 
sion. One commentator remarks that such a state- 
ment as that made by Count Okuma regarding the 
secret purchase of votes, "which in any other coun- 
try where representative institutions obtain would 
have raised a storm of protest or denial," is in Japan 
"taken as a matter of course, a thing generally recog- 
nized and not causing any surprise or shame." 

Speaking of the House of Representatives, Mr. 
Ozaki (late Minister of Justice) once said: 

"It is an Assembly of the lowest types of men. 
Thus in attending the House, sober thinkers feel as 
if they were being conducted to a hell or assembly 
of devils. It is absolutely a mistake to imagine that 
one feels at home in the Japanese Parliament. 
Neither happiness nor any taste exists in the House. 
I console myself with the feeling that my duty in 

♦For this and numerous similar citations, see Lawton, 
The Empires of the East, volume I, pages 543 ff. 



252 MODERN JAPAN 

the House is to lead, instruct, and tram other mem- 
bers. In meeting, therefore, the rough and unedu- 
cated members, I cannot keep from entertaining 
feeHngs of compassion. If one attends the House 
with the idea of learning anything there he would 
be greatly mistaken. Instead of improving himself, 
he would be made ill by coming in contact with con- 
ditions of corruption and degradation, and with the 
power of the Prince of Darkness."* 

The writer can himself bear witness to the unruly 
and undignified character of the proceedings of the 
body. Most of its work is, however, done in com- 
mittees. The House of Peers is of course more 
dignified. 

"Political parties in Japan consist of factions or 
groups interested in the fortunes of some leader or 
clique. They are controlled by autocratic or oligar- 
chic methods, and their members are not greatly 
concerned with principles or policies. Their plat- 
forms or manifestoes are a tissue of vague plati- 
tudes and declarations to which no possible excep- 
tion can be made. They all denounce favoritism, 
bureaucratic and clan influences and declare in favor 
of constitutionalism, progress, and such reforms as 
reduction of taxation, curtailment of expenditure, 
and the like. The conclusion is irresistible — a con- 
clusion supported by enlightened public opinion — 
that Japanese political parties lack stability and 
principle, and that they are for the most part mere 

*Lawton, page 553- See Putnam Weale's Coming Struggle 
in Eastern Asia, pages 382-85, for a much fuller report of Mr. 
Ozaki's indictment 



POLITICAL PARTIES 253 

associations for personal or political spoils and ag- 
grandizement. 

"Parties thus led and constituted are easily dis- 
solved and are at the mercy of the governing pow- 
ers and of corrupt influences. They are incapable 
of constructive legislation or even of enlightened 
opposition. They render constitutional government 
a mockery and the representative system an illusion, 
and must be cajoled, bribed and flattered by those 
in authority. This state of political parties affords 
striking evidence of the belated conditions of polit- 
ical life in Japan."* 

The remedy would seem to lie in the directing of 
political education, a freer and more general dis- 
cussion of political issues, a gradual widening of 
the suffrage and the substitution of true democratic 
representation and parliamentary government for 
the present system of government by a bureaucratic- 
military-clan oligarchy. 



♦Cited from the writer's report to the Kahn Foundation, 
published in Kahn Foundation Reports, volume III, number 2. 



CHAPTER XIV 

THE EXPANSION OF JAPAN KOREA 



The Japanese nation is essentially militaristic* in 
character, aims and policy. It is true that during 
the rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate, extending 
roughly from 1600 to 1867, there was an era of com- 
parative peace, but it was a peace during which 
minute and drastic regulations were maintained by 
the two-sworded Samuraif and by an army of po- 
lice, spies and informers. This period of relative 
quiet had been preceded by centuries of civil strife 
when warlike qualities were cultivated to a high 



*By militaristic is here primarily meant an ambitious 
state of mind or mental bias which aims at the achievement 
of political purposes by the use of force when diplomatic 
methods fail. With the Japanese, as with the Germans, war 
is an instrument of policy — a justifiable method of attaining 
positive ends such as commercial greatness, national prestige 
and territorial increase. If to this psychological quality and 
militaristic teaching and training there is added the exist- 
ence of a powerful military caste or clique, the possession 
of great military power, and a Hegelian philosophy of the 
State, the analogy with Prussia becomes very striking. 

tThe two-sworded Samurai freely exercised their right of 
cutting down any commoner who failed in the observance of 
the proper courtesies. 



JAPAN— KOREA 255 

degree. This experience made the Japanese a na- 
tion of hero-worshippers and taught them the value 
of the martial virtues. Under the discipline of the 
Tokugawa Shogunate they finally acquired those 
habits of obedience and a sense of deference to supe- 
riors which have made them ideal soldiers and def- 
erential subjects. 

It is also true that at only one period in their 
history* (in 1592-98) did they attempt a foreign 
conquest — that of Korea by Hideyoshi. But this 
was probably because until then the times had not 
been propitious, inasmuch as the work of national 
consolidation and unification had not been com- 
pleted. 

The work of unification was accomplished by the 
Restoration, and the process of expansion soon be- 
gan. No sooner had military service been introduced 
in 1872 than an expedition was sent to Formosa to 
secure redress from China for the murder of certain 
shipwrecked inhabitants of the Loochoo Islands 
whom Japan claimed as her subjects. This con- 
troversy nearly caused a war between Japan and 
China, but was settled by a treaty (in 1874) which 
secured the tacit relinquishment by China of the 
Loochoo Islands, ending in their incorporation with 
Japan in 1879. In 1875 Japan obtained from Rus- 
sia the Southern Kurile Islands in exchange for the 
southern half of Saghalin, since (in 1905) ceded 

*The chronicled expedition of the Empress Jingu to 
Korea in the second century, A. D., is probably fabulous. 



256 MODERN JAPAN 

back to Japan. The Bonin Islands were added to 
the Japanese domain in 1876. 

At about this time modern Japan began to show 
that special interest in Korea which soon became 
a cardinal feature of Japanese policy. A Japanese 
gunboat having been fired on by a Korean fort in 
January, 1876, an expedition was sent which, in 
imitation of Commodore Perry's action, secured 
three open ports and a treaty of peace and amity 
with the *'Hermit Kingdom." It was the acknowl- 
edgment of the independence of Korea that con- 
tributed to the outbreak of the Satsuma Rebellion in 
1877 against the Japanese Government, for the mil- 
itary faction in Japan urged war with Korea at that 
time. 

Now began the struggle for influence and re- 
forms in Korea. It is the old story of peaceful 
penetration backed by diplomacy and force. The 
Koreans were a weak and ignorant, if not a de- 
generate people, and their government was to the 
last degree contemptible. There were two factions 
at the Korean Court — the pro-Japanese Progres- 
sives who favored reform and the Conservatives or 
Exclusionists who opposed it. In 1882 the Con- 
servative Regent instigated an attack on the Japan- 
ese legation which resulted in the intervention of 
both Japan and China and in the stationing of Chi- 
nese and Japanese troops in Korea. In December, 
1884, as the result of another insurrection fomented 
by the pro- Japanese faction, these troops came into 



JAPAN— KOREA 257 

collision, and China and Japan suddenly found them- 
selves on the verge of war. The Japanese legation 
was again attacked and was burned, and the Jap- 
anese people again demanded war with both Korea 
and China. But war was averted at the eleventh 
hour by the Convention of Tientsin negotiated by 
Count Ito and Li-Hung Chang in 1885. Each state 
agreed to withdraw its forces and in the future not 
to dispatch troops to Korea without previous notice 
to the other in writing. 

The decade between 1885 and 1894 was marked 
by much strife, bloodshed and intrigue among the 
factions in Korea and between these factions and 
the Chinese, Japanese and Russians living there. Of 
the Japanese residing in Korea at this time. Profes- 
sor Longford says:* "The Japanese who came to 
these ports were the reverse of a credit to their coun- 
try ; unscrupulous adventurers, bullies, and the saim 
of all the ruffiandom of Japan predominated among 
them, and their conduct and demeanor toward the 
gentle, submissive, and ignorant natives, who were 
unresisting victims to their cupidity and cruelty, 
were a poor recommendation of the new civilization 
of which they boasted. On the other hand, Chinese 
traders — law observing, peaceable, and scrupulously 
honest in all their transactions — were living wit- 
nesses of the morality engendered by a faithful ob- 
servance of the old." 



337-38. 



The Story of Korea, page 328. Cf. the quotation on pages 



258 MODERN JAPAN 



II 



In consequence of a third insurrection, in 1895, 
Japanese and Chinese troops* found themselves face 
to face in Korea. Japan, incensed by the murder 
of her protege Kim-ok-Kim at Shanghai, was de- 
termined to solve the Korean question by the intro- 
duction of certain reforms, as well as by the sup- 
pression of the rebellion. China, on the other hand, 
opposed these reforms and reasserted her ancient 
claims of suzerainty. 

It can not be denied that in so acting China gave 
Japan a good pretextf for a war, which resulted in 
the speedy and complete triumph of Japan. But 
neither can it be doubted that the doughty islanders 
had prepared for and were eagerly awaiting such an 
opportunity. 

Among the results of the Chino-Japanese War 
of 1894-95 were the recognition by China of the 
independence of Korea; an indemnity of two hun- 
dred million taels; the cession to Japan of the island 
of Formosa, the Pescadores, and the Liao-tung 



*China had sent three thousand troops to Korea, and 
Japan had sent eight thousand whom she refused to with- 
draw after the suppression of the insurrection. 

tin his Introduction to the Secret Memoirs of . Count 
Hayashi (page 44), Mr. Pooley remarks that "the manner in 
which Japan fomented trouble in Korea and fixed a quarrel 
on China was ugly," but he thinks that "at the worst she 
was forestalling a similar course of action by China." For 
evidence of this, see the Secret Memoirs, appendix A. 



II 



JAPAN— KOREA 259 

Peninsula, including Port Arthur, the key to 
Peking. But Japan was deprived of the valuable 
cession of the Liao-tung Peninsula by the interven- 
tion of Russia, Germany and France, who advised 
her that its possession * 'would not only constitute a 
constant menace to the capital of China, but would 
also render the independence of Korea illusory, and 
thus jeopardize the permanent peace of the Far 
East." 

The forced retrocession of the Liao-tung Penin- 
sula brought to Japan an acute realization that only 
a powerful armament would enable her to guard her 
new position in the Orient. Even her own inde- 
pendence seemed at stake. In the words of Asa- 
kawa: ''If she would not retire within herself, and 
finally cease to exist, she must compete with the 
greatest nations, not only in the arts of peace, but 
also in those of war. Moreover, a far vaster con- 
flict than she had ever known in her history, ex- 
cepting the Mongol invasion of the thirteenth cen- 
tury, was seen to be awaiting her."* 

*'What Japan has now to do," wrote Count Ha- 
yashi,t "is to keep perfectly quiet, to lull the suspi- 
cions that have arisen against her, and to wait, 
meanwhile strengthening the foundations of her na- 
tional power, watching and waiting for the oppor- 
tunity which must one day surely come in the 
Orient. When that day arrives she will be able to 

*The Russo-Japanese Conflict, pages 79, 80. 
IfSecret Memoirs, page 113. 



26o MODERN JAPAN 

follow her own course, not only able to put meddling 
Powers in their places, but even, as necessity arises, 
meddling with the affairs of other Powers. Then 
truly she will be able to reap advantages for her- 
self/' 

III 

\ Russia now took the place of Qiina as rival in- 
triguer in Korea. With their wonted lack of skill 
in dealing with other Orientals, the Japanese were 
guilty of an act which was a gigantic blunder as well 
as a detestable crime of the first magnitude. "Im- 
politic attempts at hasty and radical reform in Korea 
were resisted by the Court party, headed by the 
Queen and the Min family to which she belonged. 
Early in October, 1895, the Queen planned a coup 
d'etat with a view to disbanding the soldiers who 
had been trained by Japanese officers, and of replac- 
ing the pro- Japanese partisans of reform in the Ko- 
rean Cabinet by her friends. The result was a coun- 
terplot to seize the King and Queen with the aim of 
obtaining complete control of the Korean Govern- 
ment in the interest of the pro- Japanese or Reform 
Party. In carrying out this plot, in which the 
Japanese Minister seems to have been an accom- 
plice, the Queen was murdered by Japanese and 
Korean ruffians."* 



*Hershey, International Law and Diplomacy of the Russo- 
Japanese War, pages 43-44. 



' JAPAN— KOREA 261 

This disgusting crime committed by the Japanese 
was soon followed by another equally revolting on 
the part of the Russians, by means of which Russia 
for a time obtained the control of the Korean Gov- 
ernment. A number of Russian marines entered 
Seoul in February, 1896. The King fled in disguise 
to the Russian legation where he remained until 
February, 1897. As a result of a royal edict which 
declared the Cabinet Ministers guilty of treason, 
the Prime Minister and two other ministers were 
murdered, while several others fled to Japan. 

In spite of all that diplomacy could do in the way 
of protocols, there followed a period of seven years' 
rivalry and struggle for concessions and other ad- 
vantages between Japan and Russia which culmi- 
nated in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5. 

It is not necessary to discuss here the causes of 
this war.* Suffice it to say that Japan had fully 
foreseen the struggle and prepared for it ever since 
the lease of Port Arthur by Russia in 1898, if in- 
deed, not since the compulsory retrocession of the 
Liao-tung Peninsula in 1895. From this time on 
Japanese budgets show a great and steady increase 
in army and naval expenditures. In 1900 Japan 
had increased her military prestige and gained val- 
uable experience by her participation in the expe- 
dition for the relief of the legations at Peking dur- 



*For the causes of this war, see Asakawa's Russo-Japanese 
Conflict and Hershey's International Law and Diplomacy of 
the Russo-Japanese War, chapter i. 



262 MODERN JAPAN 

ing the Boxer uprising of 1900. In January, 1902, 
she had contracted a defensive alliance with Eng- 
land which committed both countries to the main- 
tenance of the status quo i'n the Far East, the ter- 
ritorial integrity of China and Korea, and the open 
door or policy of equal commercial opportunity in 
these countries.* 



IV 



Soon after the outbreak of the Russo-Japanese 
War, Japan signed a protocol wath the Emperor of 
Korea in which the "independence and territorial 
integrity of the Korean Empire" were definitely 
guaranteed, though the Emperor of Korea agreed to 

*The Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902 only provided for 
mutual aid in case a fourth Power joined in hostilities. If 
either ally should become involved in war with a third Power, 
the other was to remain neutral. This restricted and purely 
defensive alliance of 1902 was replaced by a stronger defen- 
sive alHance in 1905 which stipulated for mutual assistance in 
defense of territorial rights or special interests in case of an 
"unprovoked attack or aggressive action by any other Power 
or Powers." The special interests mentioned are those in 
China, Eastern Asia and India. *'The independence and in- 
tegrity of the Chinese Empire and the principle of equal op- 
portunities for the commerce and industry of all nations m 
China" is declared to be one oi the main objects of the 
treaty. Great Britain also recognized Japan's paramount and 
exclusive rights in Korea. A third alliance on the same lines 
was concluded in 191 1. The main change was made to pre- 
vent the possibility of England's being called upon to assist 
Japan against the United States. For the texts of these 
treaties, see The Japan Year Book for 1915, pages 369-372. 



I 



JAPAN— KOREA 263 

adopt the advice of the Japanese Government in re- 
gard to improvements. 

Nevertheless, in November, 1905, a few months 
after the cessation of the war, the Emperor of Ko- 
rea was practically compelled* to sign a convention 
which placed the ''control and direction of the ex- 
ternal affairs of Korea'* in the hands of the Japa- 
nese Government. Korea was thus definitely trans- 
formed into a Japanese protectorate and formally 
deprived of her external independence. 

The consent of the Emperor of Korea and his 
Cabinet to the convention of 1905 could scarcely be 
described as "voluntary." It appears to have been 
secured as the result of what might perhaps be de- 
scribed as official pressure, with little or no chance of 
escape. 

In July, 1907, in consequence of the unfortunate 
sending of a Korean delegation to the Second 
Hague Conference, the weak and intriguing Em- 
peror of Korea was induced by his own Cabinet to 
abdicate in favor of the Crown Prince. At this 
time "Marquis Ito handed to the Korean Govern- 
ment a document conveying Japan's proposals as 



*It is a controverted question whether force was actually 
used or whether the consent of the Korean Emperor and his 
Cabinet was "voluntary." The former view is maintained 
by such anti- Japanese writers as Hurlbert, Lawton, and Mil- 
lard. For a convincing refutation of the misrepresentations 
of Hurlbert and others, see I^add, In Korea with Marquis Ito, 
chapter 11. 



264 MODERN JAPAN 

the basis of a new Japanese Korean agreement."* 
According to the terms of this convention, prac- 
tically all the powers of the state were placed under 
the direction of the Resident-General, and Korea 
was thus virtually reduced to a position of depend- 
ency in internal as well as external affairs, though 
not formally annexed until August, iQio.f 

In spite of a diplomatic record of broken promises 
and many acts of oppression and injustice, it is our 
opinion that Japan should not be judged too harshly 
for her treatment of Korea. To be sure, this rec- 
ord may serve to make one wary of the methods of 
Japanese diplomacy, but it should not blind us to 
the defects of the Korean Government. Never per- 
haps has there existed a weaker government, one 



*Ladd, op. cit., page 432. "Wrested from them an agree- 
ment" is the phrase used by a Japanese writer. — Kawakami, 
American- Japanese Relations^ page 154. 

tThe vital purpose of annexation, as ofBcially explained, 
was "chiefly to secure stability of peace and tranquillity for the 
Peninsula.'* Insurgents and bandits, particularly numerous 
in 1907-8, continued to operate in certain districts. A series 
of political murders and attempts at assassination by Koreans, 
culminating in the murder of their best friend, Count Ito, in 
1909, probably hastened the Act of Annexation; though it 
would seem that this step had already been decided upon 
prior to the commission of this dastardly crime, for Ito had 
already been succeeded by Viscount Terauchi as Minister- 
Resident at Seoul. For the Proclamation of Annexation and 
various other official documents bearing on this subject, see 
Annual Report on Reforms and Progress, in Chosen for 
1910-11. See also I^awton, Umpires of the Par Bastf volume II, 
pages 1087-1097. 



JAPAN— KOREA 265 

more corrupt and more incapable of governing than 
that of Korea, at least during the nineteenth century. 
No government has better deserved its fate. Be- 
sides, it must not be overlooked that Korea, so indis- 
pensable as a point d'app-iii for Japan, had for years 
been menaced by another Power. Under the cir- 
cumstances the ''Land of the Morning Calm" was 
doomed to become either Russian or Japanese. 



However critical we may be of the methods by 
which it was accomplished, the annexation of Korea 
seems to have been justified by its results. As re- 
marked by Count Terauchi, subsequent Premier of 
Japan and Late Governor-General of Chosen, in the 
Report issued in January, 19 14, "it is no easy task 
to uplift a decayed people." Yet the task has been 
essayed and most remarkable results have been at- 
tained, at least from a material standpoint. 

It is no adverse criticism upon the policy and 
methods of Japanese administration in Korea to 
say that, aside from the maintenance of law and 
order, its main efforts have been directed toward 
the improvement of material conditions. Any one 
passing from Japan to Korea or China will at once 
be struck by the denudation of the forests in the 
latter countries. One of the greatest needs of 
Korea, as of China, is reforestration. The Japan- 
ese authorities adopted energetic measures to re- 



266 MODERN JAPAN 

store the forests and thereby diminish erosion, floods 
and droughts. Hundreds of nurseries were estab- 
Hshed, in which seedHngs of pines, acacia, chestnut, 
poplar and other trees were raised to be distrib- 
uted free. In 191 1, April 3rd was set apart as 
"Arbor Day" and on the first holiday of this sort 
four and a half million young trees were planted by 
officials and private persons throughout the country. 
In 191 2 over ten million young trees were set out, 
and in 19 13 over twelve million more. 

Much has also been done to encourage agriculture 
and improve agricultural methods. Several model 
farms and a number of agricultural schools have 
been established; seeds, seedlings and plants have 
been distributed to the farmers; technical experts 
have been engaged to teach them proper methods of 
irrigation, stock-breeding and the care of fruit trees. 
Special efforts have been made to improve sericul- 
ture and to increase both the quality and quantity 
of rice and cotton grown. Since about eighty per 
cent, of the population of Chosen are engaged in 
agriculture, the Government-General can not be ac- 
cused of dereliction in regard to what may be de- 
nominated the great national industry of Korea. 

Aside from agriculture and stock-raising, Korea 
must be said, industrially speaking, to be still in its 
infancy. Chosen is rich in mineral resources, par- 
ticularly in gold, iron, graphite and copper, but they 
are mainly undeveloped and little has thus far been 
done to develop them. 



JAPAN— KOREA 2^'j 

The foreign trade of Korea has about doubled 
since annexation, that is, it increased from 52,890,- 
000 odd yen in 1909 to 102,450,000 yen in 191 3. 
However, owing to the purchase of raihvay and 
other material, the amount of imports was more 
than double that of exports. It is worth noting that 
the Korean trade with the United States has also 
increased in about the same proportion. 

"The technical industry of Chosen," says a Jap- 
anese official report, *'was in a highly developed con- 
dition when the country was under the sway of the 
Koryo dynasty, but as a result of long years of 
maladministration it gradually declined and in re- 
cent years weaving, ceramics, manufacture of paper, 
metal work and a few other arts were the only 
branches of technical industry still remaining. These 
branches of industry were pursued on a very small 
scale, the workmanship was inferior and their pro- 
duction small in amount. As it was, most of the 
commodities of daily use had to be imported from 
abroad. So, with the purpose of reviving the tech- 
nical industry of old Korea, the former Korean 
Government, under the direction of the Residency- 
General, established, in 1907, a Technical Industrial 
Training Institute in Seoul, where weaving, dyeing, 
ceramics, metal and wood work and applied chem- 
istry were taught to Korean students. After an- 
nexation, in 1 91 2, when the Government- General 
established a Central Chemical Laboratory, the in- 
stitute above mentioned was affiliated with it. At 
the laboratory, testing is carried on in the brewing 
of Japanese sake and wine, and analytical examina- 
tion of minerals and other articles is made. Neces- 



268 MODERN JAPAN 

3ary arrangements are in the course o£ being 
provided for also carrying out examinations con- 
cerning weaving, dyeing, ceramics and applied 
chemistry. In the provinces many institutions were 
established at the expense of local revenue and with 
the proceeds of the Imperial Donation Fund for 
training Koreans in various branches of technical 
industry and subsidies have been and are given to 
the work undertaken by public spirited men for 
giving technical education to Koreans, as well as 
to various promising technical undertakings. As 
the result of all these measures taken, weaving, fila- 
ture, ceramics and certain other branches of tech- 
nical industry have shown some remarkable pro- 
gress and in recent days some Japanese have 
launched out in the business of leather-tanning, 
weaving of matting, manufacture of paper, porce- 
lain and so forth. It may be noted that prior to 
annexation, factories with capital exceeding 30,000 
yen under the management of Japanese or Koreans 
numbered 56 and their aggregate capital amounted 
to 8,100,000 yen. In 191 2, the figures rose to 102 
factories and to a capital of 11,600,000 yen respect- 
ively."* 

The Government-General has also been very ac- 
tive in the work of building and improving the 
railways and highways, the improvement of har- 
bors, the encouragement of coastwise navigation, 
the establishment of postal and telegraph facilities, 
postal savings banks, parcels post, and similar en- 
terprises. 



♦From Japanese Official Report, 1913, as above, pages 31, 
32. 



JAPAN— KOREA 269 

VI 

Though Japan has naturally been most solicitous 
for the material progress of her Korean subjects, 
she has by no means neglected their physical, moral 
and intellectual welfare. Charity hospitals have 
been established in all the provincial capitals with a 
Government-General Hospital at Seoul. Much at- 
tention has been given to the combating of epidemics 
and to improved methods of sanitation. In 191 1 the 
provincial governors were instructed to "endeavor 
to induce Korean laborers to save part of their 
wages by depositing it in the postal savings bank 
or in other safe investments." It is recognized that 
**it will be an extremely difficult task to turn a peo- 
ple long accustomed to habits of idleness into a 
hard-working and thrifty people," but the task is 
evidently not regarded as hopeless. While the 
laborers are to be protected against "any measures 
savoring of oppression," they are not to be allowed 
to ''become arrogant" nor to "ask for excessive 
wages."* Thus does a paternal government deal 
■with those over whom it has assumed charge. 

In respect to Korean education, Japan has pur- 
sued a very shrewd and cautious policy. In former 
days educational facilities were very meager and 
practically confined to the Chinese classics. After 
the opening of Korea, mission schools were estab- 
lished in many places and obtained considerable 

♦Appendices to Japanese Official Report, 1913, pages 38, 
39. 



270 MODERN JAPAN 

vogue. After the Chino- Japanese War, the Korean 
Government instituted a few schools in Seoul; but, 
owing to lack of funds, these were unsuccessful. 
During 1906-10 the Residency-General established 
a number of common schools and effected some re- 
forms and readjustments of the educational system 
of the country. 

It was not, however, until November, 191 1, that 
a new system was adopted which had as its "chief 
aim the education of Koreans on the basis of the 
Imperial Rescript on Education. . . . The 
greatest stress in the new educational system was 
laid on common and industrial education and it was 
arranged that higher education should gradually be 
given, while great care was taken at the same time 
that the new system should agree with the need of 
the times and popular conditions. Above all, the 
adjustment and expansion of common education 
was most strenuously attended to, and the estab- 
lishment of new common schools year after year 
was vigorously pursued with ver}7- satisfactory re- 
sults. Thus, whereas in the year annexation was 
carried, there existed 100 common schools with 15,- 
000 children attending them, there now exist 366 
schools attended by about 50,000 children and there 
is no prefecture or district which does not possess 
at least one common school. As regards private 
schools and Sohtang (village schools), great atten- 
tion is paid regarding their supervision and guid- 
ance. The teaching of the national language (Jap- 



JAPAN— KOREA 271 

anese) is specially encouraged in all schools, no 
matter whether public or private, and in the teach- 
ing of other subjects Japanese is required to be used 
as much as possible. This is done with the desire 
that Korean children may acquire one of the most 
essential qualifications as subjects of the Empire."* 

It will thus be seen that primary education in 
Korea is not compulsory. The provision for such 
education is very inadequate; for, while it may be 
assumed that the number of common schools and 
school children will increase rapidly from year to 
year, it is evident that 366 schools, even if attended 
by fifty thousand children out of a population of 
nearly fifteen million, is a mere beginning. 

To be sure, there are about one thousand three 
hundred private schools of which over five hundred 
with forty thousand pupils are connected with for- 
eign missionsf but many of these are unsatisfactory 
in various ways and out of harmony with the spirit 
of the times as well as with the non-sectarian policy 
of the Government. With some notable exceptions, 
the Christian missionaries in Korea, though more 
successful in their propaganda,t are much inferior 
in training and endowment to their co-workers in 



♦Within the past few years religious instruction or cere- 
monies have been wholly interdicted even in private mission 
schools. 

tThe Protestant missions of Korea boast of over 370,000 
converts and probationers. There are over 80,000 Roman 
Catholic adherents. 

XJapanese Official Report, igis, pages 52-53. 



2^2 MODERN JAPAN 

Japan. Many of them are still opposed to the new 
order of things and, it is to be feared, are a hin- 
drance rather than a help to progress. 

The provisions for* secondary education are still 
more inadequate. In addition to a higher agricul- 
tural school, a government medical institute, and a 
higher technical school at Seoul, there are two high- 
er common schools for Korean youths, at Seoul and 
Pyongyang respectively, and a girls' higher com- 
mon school at Seoul. There is also a special school 
for the study of law and economics. 

Korea is thus left almost wholly without facili- 
ties for higher education. It would seem as if such 
neglect were intentional, for a leading Japanese of- 
ficial in Korea assured us that the Japanese do not 
intend to establish a government university in Korea. 
While they very greatly admire and have to a con- 
siderable extent imitated our work in the Philip- 
pines, they do not intend to ^opy our educational 
methods. To one of the ablest officials in the Jap- 
anese service it seemed very amusing that we read 
the Declaration of Independence to the Filipinos 
upon the Fourth of July and teach them to celebrate 
the day. 

Nor do they intend to repeat the great blunder 
of the British in India which, from the Japanese 
point of view, consists in encouraging a mere aca- 
demic education for the upper Hindu class of educat- 
ed proletariats, thus breeding agitators and leaders 
of unrest and discontent 



JAPAN— KOREA 273 

Korean youths desiring secondary education are 
practically forced to go to Japan.* The Japanese 
Government is evidently detennined that Chosen 
shall be educated in Japanese fashion. It appears 
to be the present educational policy to discourage 
the theoretical or literary education of Koreans and 
to encourage almost exclusively industrial educa- 
tion along practical lines. Says Count Terauchi 
on this subject: 

"It goes without saying that the education of Ko- 
reans should be undertaken with the idea of foster- 
ing in them the ability and character essential to 
subjects of the Empire. At the same time in order 
to remedy the chronic evil inherent in Koreans of 
being addicted to empty talking and idleness, it is 
necessary to inspire in them the love of active and 
painstaking w^ork. For this reason Koreans must 
be guided in the habit of industry and in the appre- 
ciation of the pleasure of work. Accordingly I, the 
Governor-General, sought by all means to make the 
avoidance of empty theories and the respect of prac- 
tical knowledge the guiding spirit of the education 
of Koreans and seized every opportunity to explain 
in detail this principle to all those interested in edu- 
cational work for Koreans. I concluded that the 
spread of industrial education was of urgent neces- 
sity and encouraged the establishment of elementary 
industrial schools a^ affiliated institutions of public 
common schools. It is satisfactory to note that 
such schools, which numbered only 4 at the time of 

*In 1913 there were 55 Korean youths studying in Japan 
at the government expense. They are placed under the spe- 
cial supervision of a government official in Tokyo. 



274 MODERN JAPAN 

annexation, now number 60. Besides these, 14 
agricultural schools and 2 commercial schools were 
established in different provincial centres, in addi- 
tion to the Agricultural and Dendrological School 
at Suwon and the Technical Training Station at 
Seoul. It is hoped that all these schools are suffi- 
cient to enable Korean young men to obtain prac- 
tical knowledge and ability in various branches of 
industry."* 

Among specific Japanese reforms in Korea, those 
connected with the administration of justice and of 
prisons should be particularly emphasized. In old 
Korea all sorts of judicial abuses flourished. There 
was no separation of the judiciary from the ordi- 
nary executive; bribery was the rule and torture 
was a usual means of securing evidence; severe 
floggings, frequently resulting in crippling for life, 
were a common mode of punishment; and the un- 
speakable dungeons called prisons in which crimin- 
als and political offenders were frequently forced 
to drag out a miserable existence, without hope of 
trial or release, were too unsavory even to describe. 

The first code for the constitution of proper law 
courts was promulgated in 1895, but it remained a 
dead letter, and it was not until 1906-07 that Japan 
was able to establish a modern system for the ad- 
ministration of justice. Torture was abolished, 
though flogging for minor offenses is still practised. 
The country now has a regular system of courts — 

the so-called "three trial system," consisting of local 

I 

"^Report, page 54. 



JAPAN— KOREA 275 

and district courts, three courts of appeal, and a 
court of cassation or supreme court at Seoul. ' The 
law has been largely codified, modern prisons have 
been built, and modern methods of treating con- 
victs and prisoners have been introduced. In spite 
of certain abuses still prevalent which were exposed 
by the notorious Conspiracy Case scandal of 191 2,* 
the reforming zeal of the Japanese in Korea deserves 
the highest credit. Judicial reforms were accom- 
plished under great difficulties and in spite of the 
greatest obstacles, due to the ignorance, prejudice 
and inborn conservatism of the Koreans. 

It is also gratifying to be able to state that, owing 
to the better administration and to an apparent im- 



*The main facts in this notorious case which naturally 
aroused much interest in missionary circles were as follows: 
In June, 1912, there were placed on trial in Seoul 123 Koreans, 
mainly Christians, on a charge of conspiracy against the life 
of the Governor-General Count Terauchi. Nearly all of the 
accused denied the truth of their own confessions made to the 
police or at the preliminary hearing, these confessions having, 
as they claimed, been extracted from them by torture 
and other forms of violence — a point never cleared up. Nev- 
ertheless, on the basis of these alleged confessions and in the 
absence of other evidence, 105 of the accused were convicted 
and sentenced by the court of first instance to penal servitude 
for life. As a result of appeal to a higher court the number 
of convictions were reduced to six and the term of imprison- 
ment to six years — a decision later upheld by the supreme 
court. It is pleasing to note that the six persons finally con- 
victed and imprisoned, apparently on the basis of their original 
undenied confessions, were pardoned by Count Okuma in 1915. 
The whole incident appears to have been a case of hysteria 
in high as well as in low places. 



2ye MODERN JAPAN 

provenient in the character of the Japanese immi- 
grants themselves, many of the abuses formerly 
complained of have disappeared, and the treat- 
ment of the Koreans seems to be more just and con- 
siderate than was the case dining the years imme- 
diately preceding and following the Russo-Japanese 
[War. 

If the Government of Chosen must be pronounced 
a great success from the point of view of reform 
activities and material development, this can hardly 
be said for Korea as an outlet for Japan's surplus 
population. To be sure, since 1909 there has been 
an annual exodus of Japanese from Japan to Korea 
of from twenty to thirty thousand until there were 
in 1914 a total of 82,578 Japanese families, num- 
bering 290,455 persons, in the country. But the 
number of annual Japanese emigrants to Korea 
seems to have decreased since 19 12 and, though 
greater than in the case of Manchuria, is hardly 
sufficient materially to relieve the congested state 
of the population in some parts of the home country 
or to provide a sufficient outlet for Japan's huge 
annual surplus population of from six to seven hun- 
dred thousand.* ^ 



*The statistics cited above are drawn from the Japan Year 
Booh for 1915, page 708. According to the table there given, 
the annual emigration of Japanese to Korea has apparently 
decreased since 191 1 and 1912, though in this as in so many 
other cases Japanese statistics are so fearfully and wonderfully 
made that it is difficult, if not impossible, to deduce conclu- 
sions therefrom. 



CHAPTER XV 

THE EXPANSION OF JAPAN MANCHURIA 

I 

Japan's interest in Manchuria appears to date 
from 1896 when Russia, which had placed China 
under a debt of fear and gratitude by her successful 
intervention against Japan at the close of the Chino- 
Japanese War, obtained, among other favors, the 
right to run the Siberian Railway through this vast 
and fertile region. But this interest probably did 
not become acute until March, 1898, when Russia 
demanded and obtained from China a twenty-five 
year lease of Port Arthur and adjacent ports of the 
Liao-tung Peninsula, together with a concession for 
a railway through Southern Manchuria between 
Port Arthur and Dalny and a point on the trans- 
Siberian railroad in Northern Manchuria. 

We are without means of knowing what impres- 
sion was made in Japan by Russia's occupation of 
Manchuria amid frightful scenes of slaughter dur- 
ing the Boxer uprising in 1900. But we do know 
that Japan joined with Great Britain and the Unit- 
ed States in their resistance to and repeated pro- 
tests against Russian pressure upon China during 

V7 



278 MODERN JAPAN 

the years immediately preceding the Russo Japan- 
ese War; and that, probably because of the implied 
menace to Korea and China, she regarded the "un- 
conditional and permanent occupation of Manchuria 
by Russia" as "prejudicial" to her "security and 
interests."* 

At the end of 1898 the breaking up of the Celes- 
tial Empire seemed imminent. Germany had ob- 
tained a foothold in Shantung, Russia was about to 
occupy Manchuria, France and Great Britain had 
taken ports and secured spheres of influence, "Japan 
had earmarked Fukien Province," and Italy was 
striving, though in vain, to secure a share of the 
spoils. Of all the really great Powers, the United 
States alone stood aloof from this carnival of plun- 
der.f 

It was soon after this juncture, which coincided 
with the close of the Spanish-American War and 
the acquisition of the Philippine Islands, that Sec- 
retary of State Hay appeared in the arena of Asiatic 
politics as China's champion, and issued his famous 
circular note of September 6, 1899, to the 
Powers. This Hay Note was intended to "maintain 
an open market for all the world's commerce and to 
remove dangerous sources of international irrita- 
tion.'* Our representatives abroad were instructed 
to obtain from each of the Powers claiming "spheres 



*Hershey, International Law and Diplomacy of the Russo- 
Japanese War, page 52. See also, Ibid, chapter xii. 

fSee especially Hornbeck, Contemporary Politics in the Far 
East, passim. 



JAPAN— MANCHURIA 279 

of influence" in China formal assurances to the fol- 
lowing effect : 

( I ) "That it would not interfere with any treaty- 
port or with the vested interest of any nation within 
a so-called *sphere of interest' or leased territory 
which such nation might have in China; (2) that 
it would maintain the Chinese treaty itself (except 
in *free ports') under Chinese management, i. e., 
guarantee equality of treatment for all nations un- 
der the most favored nation clause; and (3) that 
there should be equality of treatment for all nations 
in respect to harbor dues and railroad charges."* 

In course of time favorable replies were re- 
ceived from all the six Powers addressed (though 
the reply of Russia was somewhat equivocal), and 
Mr. Hay felt able to announce that the consent of 
each of the Powers concerned had been obtained 
and would be considered ''final and definite." 

On July 3, 1900, during the crisis resulting from 
the Boxer uprising, Mr. Hay addressed to the lead- 
ing Powers a second circular note in which he de- 
clared it to be the policy of the United States to 
"seek a solution which may bring about permanent 
safety and peace in China, preserve Chinese terri- 
torial and administrative entity, protect all rights 
guaranteed to friendly powers by treaty and inter- 



♦Cited from House Document, Foreign Relations (1899), 
56th Congress, first session, pages 131 flf.; Hershey, op. cit., 
page 330. 



28o MODERN JAPAN 

national taw, and safeguard for the world the prin- 
ciple of eqiml and impartial trade with all parts of 
the Chinese Empire,""^ This note also seemed to 
meet with a cordial reception from the Powers. 

The main principles of the Hay note have been 
reiterated again and again in many treaties and 
public documents, especially by Japan. More par- 
ticularly did Great Britain, Japan and the United 
States co-operate in the attempt to maintain these 
principles in the face of Russian aggression in Man- 
churia during the years preceding the outbreak of 
the Russo-Japanese War, and they were incorporat- 
ed in the Anglo-Japanese alliances of 1902, 1908 
and 191 1. 

II 

At the close of the Russo-Japanese War, Japan 
acquired from Russia, with the consent of China, 
the lease of Port Arthur, Ta-lien (Dalny) and ad- 
jacent territory, together with a large section of the 
South Manchurian Railway. By the Treaty of 
Portsmouth, signed on September 5, 1905, the con- 
tracting parties agreed: 

" ( I ) To evacuate completely and simultaneously 
Manchuria, except the territory affected by the 
lease of the Liao-tung Peninsula, .... and 

"(2) To restore entirely and completely to the 
exclusive administration of China all portions of 

*Hershey, op. cit., page 332. 



JAPAN— MANCHURIA 281 

Manchuria now in occupation or under the control 
of the Japanese or Russian troops, with the .excep- 
tion of the territory above mentioned."* 

In this same article Russia also declared that she 
did not have in Manchuria "any territorial advan- 
tages or preferential or exclusive concessions in the 
impairment of Chinese sovereignty or inconsistent 
with the principle of equal opportunity." 

Japan and Russia also reciprocally engaged "not 
to obstruct any general measures common to all 
countries which China may take for the development 
of the commerce or industry of Manchuria." Rus- 
sia agreed to "transfer and assign" to Japan "with- 
out compensation and with the consent of the Chin- 
ese Government" the South Manchurian Railway 
between Chang-chun and Port Arthur — a distance 
of some 436 miles — ^and all of its branches, "togeth- 
er with all rights, privileges, and properties apper- 
taining thereto in that region, as well as all coal 
mines in said region belonging to or worked for the 
benefit of the railway." 

Both countries engaged "to exploit their respec- 
tive railways in Manchuria exclusively for commer- 



*ln a supplementary article, it was agreed that the simul- 
taneous withdrawal of their military forces should begin 
immediately after the treaty of peace came into operation, 
and that the process of withdrawal should be completed with- 
in eighteen months after this date. Both countries reserved 
the right to maintain railway guards — not to exceed fifteen 
per kilometer — to protect their respective railway lines. 



282 MODERN JAPAN 

cial and industrial puq)oses and in no wise for stra- 
tegic purposes/'* 

Equally important to a proper understanding of 
Japanese aims in Manchuria are the Chino-Japanese 
Treaty and the Secret Protocols,! signed at Peking 
on December 22, 1905. In the published treaty 
China consented to the various transfers and as- 
signments of territory and railways contained in 
the Treaty of Portsmouth, agreed to the opening 
to international trade and residence of sixteen addi- 
tional cities and towns in Manchuria, and conceded 
to Japan for fifteen years certain rights over the 
Antung-Mukden Railway, a military road construct- 
ed by Japan during the Russo-Japanese War. 

The most important of the Secret Protocols con- 
cluded between China and Japan was subsequently 
used as a justification for Japan's refusal to permit 
China, England and the United States to engage in 
railway enterprises in Southern Manchuria. It was 
thus summarized by the Japanese Minister of For- 
eign Affairs in a note to Washington : 

"The Chinese Cjovernment engage, for the pur- 
pose of protecting the interests of the South Man- 
churia Railway, not to construct, prior to the recov- 
ery by them of the said railway, any main line in 

*But it was "understood that this restriction does not 
apply to the railway in the territory affected by the lease 
of the Liao-tung Peninsula." 

tFor the texts of these treaties, see Millard, America and 
the Far Eastern Question, Appendices, pages 541-52. 



JAPAN— MANCHURIA 283 

the neighborhood of and parallel to that railway 
or any branch line which might be prejudicial to 
the interest of the above-mentioned railway." 

Complaints from foreign merchants of trade dis- 
criminations and violations of the open door princi- 
ple by Japan began to arrive at Washington and 
other foreign offices soon after the close of the 
Russo-Japanese War. There can be no question of 
certain evasions and violations of this principle dur- 
ing the period of military occupation — a period 
which appears to have been unduly prolonged, that 
is, until the spring of 1907. During this period the 
transport of Japanese goods shipped by Japanese 
merchants was permitted free of charge, whereas 
all sorts of obstacles were placed in the way of for- 
eign goods entering the country, and no foreigner 
could travel in Manchuria without a passport grant- 
ed by the military authorities. The Japanese thus 
secured many initial advantages which enabled them 
to defy later competition. 

There appears to have been unnecessary delay in 
the establishment of customs at Dalny and Antung 
— an omission which enabled Japanese merchants to 
accumulate stocks of goods and thus still further 
prolong the period of immunity from foreign com- 
petition. It is even charged that preferential treat- 
ment was accorded at Dalny to Japanese shipping 
and that smuggling was practised as late as 1908. 
Certainly the trade of the Chinese city Niu-chwang 
has greatly suffered while that of Dalny has flour- 



284 MODERN JAPAN 

ished exceedingly. It is not denied that, as in the 
case of Korea, Manchuria was at first a happy hunt- 
ing* ground for Japanese adventurers who prac- 
tised such dishonest methods as the counterfeiting 
of foreign labels and imitation of trade marks. They 
refused to pay likin and other local dues and thus 
enjoyed advantages not only over foreign merchants 
but also over the Chinese themselves who were 
obliged to pay these taxes. Japanese immigrants 
were apparently permitted to reside in places not 
open to foreign trade. A candid and scrupulous 
Japanese publicist like Asakawa* admits that such 
acts were both unwise and illegal. 

It has also been charged that Japan for a time 
discriminated in favor of her own merchants by 
means of a system of rebates or by other means 
unhappily familiar to Americans, but these charges 
can not be said to be absolutely proven. 

Though Japan can not be acquitted of a certain 
amount of unfairness and underhand dealing in her 
application of so-called business methods in Southern 
Manchuria, she owes her present commercial su- 
premacy in this region mainly to other causes. 
These may perhaps be summed up as favorable geo- 
graphical position, an abundant supply of cheap 
labor, subsidized steamship lines, railway facilities, 
government initiative and support of Japanese en- 
terprises and the fact that she is Manchuria's best 
customer. Japan is in fact the chief consumer of 



*In Yale Review for 1908, pages 278-79. 



JAPAN— MANCHURIA 285 

the soya bean — the main article of export from this 
region. Under these circumstances it is scarcely 
a matter of surprise that American as well as other 
foreign trade in this region has almost disappeared. 
The "evacuation" of Manchuria having been com- 
pleted in accordance with the terms of the Ports- 
mouth Treaty, Russia and Japan were able, on July 
30, 1907, to come to an agreement in which each 
engaged to "respect the actual territorial integrity 
of the other, and all the rights accruing to one and 
the other Party from treaties, conventions and con- 
tracts in force between them and China." They 
also declared that they "recognize the independence 
and the territorial integrity of the Empire of China 
and the principle of equal opportunity in whatever 
concerns the commerce and industry of all nations in 
that Empire, and engage to sustain and defend the 
maintenance of the status quo and respect for this 
principle by all the pacific means within their reach." 
On November 30, 1908, Japan gave similar assur- 
ances regarding China to the United States.* 

Ill 

But the most important questions which have 
arisen in relation to the Japanese exploitation of 
Manchuria have been those connected with railway 
projects and administration. 

On the strength of the provision in the agree- 



*See the Root-Takahira Exchange of Notes in Millard, 
Our Eastern Question, pages 574-75. 



286 MODERN JAPAN 

ment between the Chinese Government and the 
Russo-Chinese Bank in 1896, Russia had acquired 
extensive tracts of land along her railway lines 
and had exercised over them a complete administra- 
tion. When the South Manchurian Railway south 
of Chung-chun was taken over by Japan, the latter 
zealously followed Russia's example in acquiring 
railway land, notably at Mukden and Chung-chun, 
and in extending her administration. This was a 
source of considerable friction with China. 

It seems to have been a wise policy on the part 
of Japan to co-operate as far as possible with China 
and Russia in the construction and operation of 
railways in Manchuria. To this end the South 
Manchuria Railway Company was organized in 
1906, and the lines in possession of Japan were 
greatly improved until they now constitute one of 
the first railway systems of the world. The com- 
plete co-operation of Russia was finally secured in 
1 910. For a time the policy of China appears to 
have been unwisely obstructive; though it must be 
said that for this policy of China, the arbitrary and 
inconsiderate conduct of the Japanese was partly to 
blame. 

One of the great controversies of this period cen- 
tered about the proposed construction of the Hsin- 
mintun-Fakumen extension of the North China 
Railway by British capital — a. scheme which Japan 
vetoed on the ground that it would constitute a 
violation of the Secret Protocol, previously men- 



JAPAN— MANCHURIA 287 

tioned, forbidding the building of parallel lines. 
Though Japan appears to have been technically right 
in this matter, it would seem that from an economic 
as well as political point of view, her policy was 
unwise and short-sighted. 

Another project was soon developed (in 1908) 
which contemplated the construction by American, 
British and Chinese interests of a very extensive 
Mongolian-Manchurian railway from Chin-chou 
to Aigun on the Amur through Tsitsihai, west of 
Harbin on the Chinese Eastern Railway. This plan 
had the diplomatic support of the United States 
but was absolutely vetoed by Russia on the ground 
that it constituted a menace to Russian political, 
strategic and economic interests. Japan did not 
openly reject the proposal, but made her acceptance 
conditional upon such terms as made the scheme 
impossible of execution. Clearly the sovereignty 
of China in Manchuria did not extend to the build- 
ing of railways. 

While the negotiations for the construction of the 
Chin-chou-Aigun Railway were in progress, Mr. 
Knox, then Secretary of State, made a proposal to 
the Powers interested which must be pronounced 
Utopian and, under the circumstances, extremely un- 
wise. His scheme contemplated nothing less than 
the so-called neutralization or, more properly speak- 
ing, internationalization of all the railways existing 
or to be built in the whole of Manchuria. Accord- 
ing to this plan, the Powers interested, including 



288 MODERN JAPAN 

Russia and Japan, were to loan to China sufficient 
funds to enable her to purchase the interests of 
Japan and Russia and to construct more Manchur- 
ian railways. The ownership of all these lines was 
to be vested in the Chinese Government, but for the 
time being, at least, they were to be administered 
by a sort of international commission. In this way 
China was to enjoy political rights in Manchuria, 
and the principle of the open door and equal com- 
mercial opportunity was to be preserved for all 
nations. 

The neutralization or internationalization scheme 
of Mr. Knox might, if capable of execution, have 
afforded an ideal solution of the Manchurian ques- 
tion, but it was open to too many practical objec- 
tions to make it worthy of serious consideration. 
It greatly embarrassed our natural ally. Great Bri- 
tain, which felt obliged to approve of it in principle, 
but deemed it "wise to postpone consideration of the 
scheme." It offended Russia and appears to have 
grievously wounded Japan.* By both these nations 
it was politely but firmly rejected. 



*Says the Japan Mail (weekly) for January 22, 1910: 
"Since the celebrated Interference of the three Powers in 
the case of the Liao-tung Peninsula, no diplomatic incident 
seems to have stirred Japan so deeply as has this Washington 
proposal." Count Okuma is quoted as saying that the Knox 
proposal astonished him because of its lack of common sense. 
Count Hayashi characterized it as unjust. The Japanese 
press seems to have been unanimous in its opposition to the 
scheme. Much of the comment was very bitter. 



JAPAN— MANCHURIA 289 

"The Knox Fiasco/'* as it came to be called, was 
unquestionably one of the main causes for the' Rus- 
so-Japanese Convention signed on July 4, 19 10. 
This Convention declared : 

"Having in view the actual situation in Man- 
churia where the interests of the two Powers meet," 
and "with the object of facilitating communications 
and developing the commerce of nations/' Russia 
and Japan mutually engage to "lend to each other 
their friendly co-operation with a view to the amel- 
ioration of their respective railway lines in Man- 
churia and the improvement of the connecting ser- 
vice of the said railways, and to abstain from all 
competition prejudicial to the realization of this ob- 
ject Both countries also agreed to "maintain and 
respect the statics quo in Manchuria resulting from 
the treaties, conventions, and other arrangements 
concluded up to this day between either of these two 
Powers and China, "f 

With the conclusion of this convention, which 
does not even render lip service to the principle of 
the open door, the fate of Manchuria appears to 
have been sealed. At least as far as this region is 
concerned, both Russia and Japan had reverted to 



*For the main documents bearing on the Knox Proposals, 
see Millard, Our Bastern Question, chapter i, and appendix A. 

fArticle III provides that in case of menace to this status 
quo, both Powers shall communicate with each other with a 
view to an understanding. For the text of the treaty, see 
Japan Year Book for 191 5, page 574. 



290 MODERN JAPAN 

the old "sphere of influence" or "special interests" 
diplomacy based upon the idea of particular con- 
cessions and monopolistic privileges. Russia had 
probably at no time entertained any other purpose, 
but Japan had professed, possibly with some degree 
of sincerity, that she was fighting for the open door 
and the integrity of the Chinese Empire in Man- 
churia, though she claimed special interests in 
Korea. Whether she had ever deluded herself may 
be an open question, but there can be no question as 
to the disillusionment of England and the United 
States. The country which had loudly complained 
of German policy in Shantung and Russian policy 
in Manchuria now justified her own conduct by the 
very precedents which she had formerly condemned. 
The more recent aggressions of Japan in Man- 
churia as well as in other parts of China will be 
considered in the next chapter. 



CHAPTER XVI 

JAPANESE AIMS AND POLICY IN CHINA 
I 

For several years after the negotiations in 1909 
of a new treaty with China which settled a number 
of outstanding disputes, the relations between the 
two countries seem to have become somewhat more 
satisfactory than had hitherto been the case. Thou- 
sands of Chinese students had already flocked to 
Tokyo to enjoy the advantages of a cheap and quick 
education. Though speedily disillusioned with 
Japan, many of them imbibed radical and revolu- 
tionary ideas which bore fruit a few years later in 
the Chinese Revolution of 191 1. However, the old 
feeling of distrust and dislike of Japan's aims and 
methods was soon again aroused in China, and rela- 
tions* grew steadily worse, especially after 1912-13. 



♦Count Hayashi {Secret Memoirs, chapters ix-x) held the 
problem of Sino-Japanese relations to be insoluble. He says 
(page 257) : "Even though various treaties have gained us 
special privileges in China, the Chinese will eventually try to 
limit the sphere of influence as much as possible, whilst we, 
on our part, must try to reserve as much room for our 
expansion in that country as possible. Consequently, . . . 

291 



292 MODERN JAPAN 

There seems to be no evidence that Japan insti- 
gated or promoted the Chinese revolutionists in 
191 1, though it is undoubtedly true that the nation 
as a whole, perhaps not altogether on unselfish 
grounds, strongly sympathized with them. 

Though debtor nations and with little or no capi- 
tal for foreign investment, both Japan and Russia 
in 19 1 2 asked to be admitted to the Four Power 
Loan Syndicate. This S3mdicate was composed of 
English, French, German and American bankers 
who had the diplomatic backing of their respective 
Governments for loans to China, then in need of 
large sums of money for political, commercial and 
industrial purposes, more particularly- for the build- 
ing of railways and the crushing of a prospective 
rebellion. 

The admission of Japan and Russia to the Loan 



it is impossible to avoid ill-feeling and a conflict of interests.'* 
He repudiates the idea that it is possible "to get everything 
for ourselves and at the same time to gain the confidence of 
the Chinese by making them appreciate our great services in 
having driven away the Russians. . . . That we drove the 
Russians out of Manchuria was because we wanted to pro- 
tect our own interests. Our action was necessary for our 
preservation. We were not requested by China to drive Rus- 
sia out." Again, he says (on page 259) : "It is, therefore, 
for our own preservation that we are holding Manchuria. 
We have not acted in the least from humanitarian considera- 
tions. Even the Chinese understand these things." Even to 
the friends of Japan, the argument that the Chinese show 
ingratitude by not acceding promptly to all her demands, 
seems selfish as well as childish. 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 293 

Syndicate gave it more of a political character,* 
and this ultimately (in March, 1913) led to the 
withdrawal of the United States from the new Six- 
Power Group on the ground that the administrative 
independence of China was threatened by the condi- 
tions imposed upon China by the Reorganization 
Loan Agreement, t 

Other evidences of Japan's aggressive aims or for- 
ward policy in China at this time are not lacking. 
Japan assumed an attitude unfriendly to the Govern- 
ment of her old enemy Yuan-Shih Kai and there 
seems to be good evidence that Japanese officers 
participated in the rebellion of 1913. Among the 
diplomatic incidents of this period, the "Nanking 
Incident" and the "Changli Affair" are the most 
notable. They reveal a clear intent on the part of 
the Japanese Government to make the most of its 
opportunities, and they did much to increase that 
powerful anti-Japanese feeling which exists among 
the Chinese and their sympathizers. 

Upon the capture of Nanking by General Chang 
Hsun on September i, 1913, his troops plundered 
the city, killing some of the citizens. Among those 
killed were two Japanese. It was also claimed that 
the flag of the Japanese consulate had been insulted. 



♦This was at once apparent when Japan and Russia de- 
manded that they be consulted concerning expenditures for 
undertakings in Manchuria and Mongolia. 

fFor the text of this Agreement, see Millard, Our Eastern 
Question, appendix B, pages 406 ff. 



294 MODERN JAPAN 

For these acts, extremely reprehensible but common 
in Chinese warfare, Japan demanded and ultimately 
obtained, among other things, the payment of a 
large indemnity, an apology and the punishment of 
the culprits, including the removal of General Chang 
Hsun. These demands would not perhaps have 
been excessive had it been clearly shown that the 
Japanese were killed because of their nationality 
and that General Chang was in any way personally 
responsible for these crimes. But this was by no 
means the case. In making his apology. General 
Chang cleverly outwitted his accusers in character- 
istic Chinese fashion. After his visit at the Japan- 
ese consulate, he proceeded to call upon the other 
foreign consuls at Nanking as well. In this way 
he "saved face" in the eyes of his troops and com- 
patriots. 

The Changli Affair occurred on September 20, 
I9i3» when a conflict between Chinese and Japanese 
railway guards resulted in the killing of three Chin- 
ese soldiers and the wounding of two others. Ac- 
cording to the Chinese version, the conflict origi- 
nated in the refusal of a Japanese sentinel to pay for 
some apples which he had filched from a Chinese 
peddler. The Japanese claimed that they were at- 
tacked by the Chinese who attempted to force a way 
through their ranks. It was now the turn of the 
Chinese Government to demand compensation, cer- 
tain assurances, apology and punishment. But after 
prolonged negotiations, Japan would concede noth- 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 295 

ing beyond an indemnity. As between China and 
Japan, it would seem that much depends upon whose 
ox is gored. 

During the years 191 2-14 Chinese aversion for 
Japan was still further intensified by Japan's refusal 
to consent to a proposed revision of the Chinese 
tariff on the terms agreed upon by several of the 
other Powers. Though Japan was doubtless acting 
within her treaty rights, her opposition to tariff 
revision is said to have excited intense excitement 
in China. 



II 



It would thus seem that the relations between the 
two countries were already strained to a consider- 
able degree when the Great European War broke 
out in August, 1914. Within a few days after Eng- 
land had entered the war. Baron Kato, Japan's Min- 
ister for Foreign Affairs, declared : "We shall do our 
duty."* At a meeting of the Elder Statesmen there 
was said to be a complete accord between Prince 
Yamagata and Count Okuma. 

On August 15th, Japan delivered the following 
ultimatum to Germany which contains an ironical 
reminder of Germany's friendly advice to Japan in 
1895 to re-cede to China the Liao-tung Peninsula : 



*Japan Mail (weekly) for August 8, 1914. The files of 
the Japan Weekly Mail constitute our main authority for 
much of what follows. 



296 MODERN JAPAN 

r' 

^ "We consider it highly important and necessary 
in the present situation to take measures to remove 
the causes of all disturbances of the peace in the Far 
East, and to safeguard the general interests as con- 
templated by the agreement of alliance between 
Japan and Great Britain.* 

"In order to secure a firm and lasting peace in 
Eastern Asia, the establishment of which is the aim 

of the said agreement, the Imperial Japanese Gov- 

k. ■ . 

*It is difficult to see how "the territorial rights or special 
interests" of either England or Japan in the Far East, men- 
tioned in the preamble of the Anglo- Japanese Treaty of 191 1, 
were seriously menaced by Germany up to this time. To be 
sure, Tsing-tau might for a short time have served the small 
German squadron then in Eastern waters as a naval base of 
some importance, but it could have accomplished little in the 
face of the presence of the Allied fleets. Yet if Japan was 
not clearly bound to go to the aid of her ally England, it was 
doubtless within her right to do so. Whether Japan took 
the initiative in this matter or merely responded to the re- 
quest of her ally will be for future historians to determine. 
According to a report which appears to be based upon a 
statement by Count Okuma in the Japan Mail (weekly) 
for August 15, 1914, the British Government merely requested 
the aid of the Japanese navy in policing the waters in the 
Far East To attain this end, the Japanese Government 
deemed it necessary to destroy the German base of opera- 
tions at Tsing-tau. Baron Kato stated in the Japanese Diet 
that Great Britain asked for assistance early in August and 
that there had been a full and frank exchange of views be- 
tween the two Governments. Some efforts were made in 
diplomatic and official circles at Peking to secure a neutrali- 
zation of leased territory during the Great War. Ideally 
speaking, this might have been a wise solution of the problem, 
but the pernicious and diabolical activities of Germans every- 
where during this war have shown that Germany could not 
have been trusted to observe a real neutrality in Shantung. 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 297 

ernment sincerely believes it to be its duty to give 
the advice to the Imperial German Government to 
carry out the following two propositions : 

''First — To withdraw immediately from Japanese 
and Chinese waters German men-of-war and armed 
vessels of all kinds, and to disarm at once those 
which cannot be so withdrawn. 

"Second — To deliver on a date not later than 
September 15 to the Imperial Japanese authorities, 
without condition or compensation, the entire leased 
territory of Kiaochou, with a view to the eventual 
restoration of the same to China. 

"The Imperial Japanese Government announces 
at the same time that in the event of not receiving 
by noon on August 23, 1914, an answer from the 
Imperial German Government signifying its uncon- 
ditional acceptance of the above advice offered by 
the Imperial Japanese Government, Japan will be 
compelled to take such action as she may deem nec- 
essary to meet the situation." 

Germany having failed to reply to this ultima- 
tum, the Emperor of Japan, albeit with "profound 
regret" and "in spite of an ardent devotion to the 
cause of peace," declared war against Germany. 

Meanwhile, Count Okuma and Baron Kato were 
prolific in assurances to the outside world that Japan 
was inspired by none other than the most pacific 
and altruistic motives. On August 20th Baron 
Kato gave the following explanation of Japan's ac- 
tion in a communication to our State Department 
at Washington: 



298 MODERN JAPAN 

"The history of the seizure of the place [Kiao- 
chou] by Germany and her conduct preceding and 
including her intervention in conjunction with Rus- 
sia and France, after the Chino-Japanese War, show 
that it is absolutely necessary to eliminate such pos- 
session completely if Japan is to restore immediately 
complete peace in the Far East in accordance with 
the terms of the Anglo- Japanese Alliance. If Japan 
is to look far enough into the future and adopt 
measures to insure an abiding peace in Eastern Asia, 
she must realize that a strong military base in the 
hands of a hostile military power right in the heart 
of the country cannot in itself fail to be a menacing 
factor." 

And on August 24th, Count Okuma cabled to the 
New York Independent a "Message to the Ameri- 
can People*' which contains this assurance: 

*'As Premier of Japan, I have stated and now 
again state to the people of America and the world 
that Japan has no ulterior motive, no desire to se- 
cure more territory, no thought of depriving China 
or other peoples of anything which they now pos- 
sess. 

"My Government and my people have given their 
word and their pledge, which will be as honorably 
kept as Japan always keeps her promises""^ 

♦The italics are ours. In view of subsequent happenings, 
these utterances on the part of one of Japan's great statesmen 
reflect very seriously upon the honor of Nippon. For sincere 
lovers of the Japanese like the authors of this volume it be- 
comes a very painful duty to have to record their impression 
that the Japanese Government must experience a considerable 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 299 

On August 25th the following remarkable semi- 
official statement regarding Japan's policy in China 
was given out by the Kokwai Tsuchin-sha,* a Jap- 
anese news agency with close official connections 
with the Foreign Office, and cabled to all parts of 
Europe and America : 

"On the highest authority Reuter's correspond- 
ent is able to state that it is the settled policy of Ja- 
pan, approved by the Emperor, the Genro, the Privy 
Council, the Cabinet, and the leading business men, 
that Japan under all future conditions will act 
strictly in accord with the terms of the alliance with 
England and the treaties and agreements with 
America and her pledge to China. She will restore 
Kiao-chou and will preserve the territorial integrity 
of China. The ultimatum will be adhered to, 
whether Tsing-tau is taken by force or otherwise." 



change of heart and method before implicit confidence can be 
placed in its pledges and assurances. It is greatly to be de- 
plored that in the field of diplomacy Japan has preferred to 
imitate Russia and Germany rather than the countries of West- 
ern Europe and America. 

*This agency is also closely affiliated with the British 
Reuter's and the American Associated Press. The writers 
recall vividly the dislike and criticism aroused in a certain 
foreign circle in Tokyo several years ago when it was rumored 
that the Japanese Government had effected an arrangement 
which gave it virtual control of the powerful Reuter's agency; 
for it thus acquired a practical censorship of foreign dis- 
patches. Similar arrangements appear to have been made 
with the Associated Press. Thus do Governments like those 
of Japan and Germany control one of the main sources of 
knowledge regarding their aims and actions. 



300 MODERN JAPAN 

This official and semi-official press campaign had 
its effect in foreign lands, and their newspapers re- 
sounded with praise of Japanese altruism, magna- 
nimity and pacific and humanitarian motives. But 
how soon came the disillusionment !* Within a few 
months suggestions began to appear in the Japanese 
press to the effect that in the ultimatum to Germany, 
Japan had only indicated her intention to restore 
Kiao-chou to China in case of a peaceful transfer to 
Japan, but that its restoration as prize of war had 
not been contemplated. In December, 19 14, Baron 
Kato, in reply to an interpellation, declared in the 
Diet that Japan had made "no promise whatever 
with regard to the ultimate disposition of what she 
had acquired in Shantung. The purpose of the 
ultimatum to Germany was to take Kiao-chou from 
Germany and so to restore peace in the Orient. 
Restitution after a campaign was not thought of and 
was not referred to in the ultimatum."! And in 
her ultimatimi to China on May 7, 191 5, the Japan- 
ese Government declared : "The Imperial Japanese 
Government, in taking Kiao-chou, made immense 
sacrifices in blood and money. Therefore after tak- 



*This disillusionment was shared by the authors of this 
volume. Really, it is more than doubtful whether even from 
the standpoint of mere expediency, statesmen are wise in 
resorting to these methods of deceiving their public The 
reaction is so great as to provoke perhaps excessive distrust. 

tThen why the assurances by Count Okuma and the semi- 
official statement referred to above after the declaration of 
war against Germany? 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 301 

ing the place, there is not the least obHgation . . . 
to return tlie place to China."* 

In their conduct of operations against Tsing-tau; 
Japan, on the plea of military necessity, committed 
a violation of Chinese neutrality and international 
law for which, from a purely military point of view, 
there was even less justification than for Germany's 
outrageous violation of Belgian neutrality. Troops 
were landed at the port of Lungkow on the northern 
coast of Shantungt and marched overland to Weih- 
sien on the railway about one hundred miles west of 
Tsing-tau and well outside the war zone which had 
been marked out by the Chinese Government. Dis- 
regarding Chinese protests, Japan, in fact, soon took 
possession of the entire line of the Shantung Rail- 
way and the German coal mines in Shantung. She 
even stationed troops at Tsinanfu, 260 miles west of 
Kiao-chou. Indeed, long before the final taking of 
Tsing-tau, on November 7, 1914, it had become clear 
to all concerned that, temporarily at least, Japan 



*Cited from Hornbeck, Contemporary Politics, etc., page 
290. Hornbeck adds: **Since then the Japanese Government 
has agreed to restore Kiao-chou to China — under specified 
conditions — after the end of the European War; but in the 
interval everything possible is being done not only to elimi- 
nate all signs of German possession and influence from Shan- 
tung, but further, to replace them with Japanese institutions 
and enterprises." 

tOn the other hand, the small British expeditionary force 
which assisted at the capture of Tsing-tau landed at lyaoshou 
within the leased territory, thus carefully avoiding the viola- 
tion of Chinese neutrality. 



302 MODERN JAPAN 

regarded herself as more than the heir of Germany 
in the Shantung Province. 

Ill 

But the worst part of the story of Japan's aggres- 
sive conduct toward China remains to be told. 

After the entry of Japan into the war, when it 
had become evident that Chinese neutrality was im- 
periled, the Chinese Government, seeking to re- 
strict the sphere of Japanese military operations, 
had delimited a war zone to which, however, Japan 
had paid not the least attention. After the reduc- 
tion of Kiao-chou the Chinese Government, argu- 
ing that there was no further reason for maintain- 
ing the war zone, notified Japan of its intention to 
abolish the zone. The action resulted in a great out- 
burst of indignation in the Japanese press which 
affected to regard this revelation of the Chinese at- 
titude as an "insult'* There arose in Japan a 
strong popular demand for satisfaction and the en- 
forcement of Japan's "rights" in China. 

On January i8, 191 5, Japan made her infamous 
demands on China, in twenty-one articles. From a 
purely selfish but probably short-sighted point of 
view the time was most opportune. As an editorial 
in the Japan Weekly Mail expresses it : 

"If it is Japan's settled policy to dominate and 
control China and to achieve the hegemony of East- 
em Asia, this appears to be an ideal opportunity. 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 303 

The hands of Europe are tied. The hands of the 
United States are folded in peace. China herself 
is impotent. Europe has set Japan a bad example. 
. . . These are days of world adjustment. . . . 
What is Japan that she should rise superior to the 
common level and show a self-restraint, an unself- 
ish regard for the rights of other nations and peo-« 
pies, when the whole civilized world is in a debacle 
of conflicting national ambitions and selfishness?'' 

The twenty-one articles of the demands as orig- 
inally presented by Japan were divided into five 
groups. 

Group I related to the province of Shantung and 
required: the assent of China to all matters which 
might be agreed upon between Japan and Germany 
with regard to the disposition of all rights, interests 
and concessions possessed by Germany; an engage- 
ment by China not to alienate or lease any part of 
Shantung or any territory or island along its coas^ 
to a third Power; the granting to Japan of the 
right to build an additional railway in the province, 
and the opening of certain important cities and 
towns as treaty-ports. 

Group II, relating to South Manchuria and East- 
ern Inner Mongolia, provided : for the extension of 
the terms of the leases of Port Arthur and Dalny, 
and of the South Manchurian and Antung-Mukden 
railways to a period of ninety-nine years; the acqui- 
sition by the Japanese of the right to lease or own 
land required either for erecting suitable buildings 
for trade and manufacturing or for farming, as also 



304 MODERN JAPAN 

the rights of residence, trade, manufacturing and 
travel; the grant to Japanese subjects of the right 
of opening all mines, such mines to be jointly de- 
cided upon by the two Governments, the assumption 
on the part of China of an obligation to obtain the 
consent of Japan before granting railway conces- 
sions or loans to subjects of third Powers, as also 
before employing political, financial, or military ad- 
visers or instructors; and the transfer to Japan of 
the management and control of the Kirin-Chang- 
chun Railway. 

Group III related to Japan's interest in the im- 
portant Hanyang iron and steel works* (the Krupps 
of China) acquired near Hankow during the Chi- 
nese revolution. Article i provided that China and 
Japan "mutually agree that when the opportune 
moment arrives, the Hanychping Company shall be 
made a joint concern of the two nations ;" and that, 
"without the previous consent of Japan, China" 
shall not dispose of the rights and property of this 
Company. Article 2 contained this vague but far- 
reaching stipulation: "The Chinese Government 
agrees that all mines in the neighborhood of those 
owned by the Hanychping Company shall not be 
permitted, without the consent of the Company, to 
be worked by any person outside of the said Com- 
pany;" and that "if it is desired to carry out any 
undertaking which, it is apprehended, may directly 



*This company also owns valuable coal and iron mines in 
Central China. 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 305 

or indirectly affect the interests of the said Company, 
the consent of said Company shall first be obtained." 

In Group IV China "engages not to cede or lease 
to a third Power any harbor, bay, or island along 
the [entire] coast of China." 

The articles in Group V are so important and 
pregnant with future possibilities that they deserve 
quotation in full: 

"Article i. The Chinese Government shall em- 
ploy influential Japanese as advisers in political, 
financial and military affairs. 

"Article 2. Japanese hospitals, churches and 
schools in the interior of China shall be granted the 
right of owning land. 

"Article 3. Inasmuch as the Japanese Govern- 
ment and the Chinese Government have had many 
cases of dispute between Japanese and Chinese po- 
lice to settle, cases which have caused no little mis- 
understanding, it is for this reason necessary that 
the police departments of the important places in 
China shall be jointly administered by Japanese and 
Chinese, or that the Chinese police departments of 
these places shall employ numerous Japanese, so that 
they may at the same time help to plan for the im- 
provement of the Chinese police service. 

"Article 4. China shall purchase from Japan a 
fixed amount of munitions of war, say fifty per 
cent, or more of what is needed by the Chinese 
Government, or there shall be established in China a 
Sino-Japanese jointly worked arsenal. Japanese 
technical experts are to be employed and Japanese 
material to be purchased. 

"Article 5. China agrees to grant to Japan the 



3o6 MODERN JAPAN 

right of constructing a railway connecting Wuch- 
wang with Kiukiang and Nanchang, another line 
between Nanchang and Hangchou, and another be- 
tween Nanchang and Choo-chou. 

''Article 6. If China needs foreign capital to 
work mines, build railways and construct harbor 
works, including dockyards, in the province of Fu- 
kien, Japan shall be first consulted. 

"Article 7. China agrees that Japanese subjects 
shall have the right to propagate religious doctrines 
in China." 

In presenting the above demands, Japan clearly 
showed her hand and revealed a purpose not merely 
of excluding so far as possible other Powers from 
leases and concessions in China but of monopolizing 
such privileges for herself. More than this, Group 
V showed that Japan was aiming at the political 
control of China, whether for its own sake or in 
order, more likely, to be able the better to exploit 
her commercial and industrial resources. The 
granting of these demands would, in effect, have 
transformed China into a protectorate or vassal 
state of Japan. 

If the substance of the demands was extremely 
menacing, the manner of presenting and urging 
them was positively insulting. Instead of com- 
municating them to the China Foreign Office, the 
Japanese Minister presented them personally to 
Yuan-Shih Kai, the President of the Chinese Re- 
public. The greatest secrecy was enjoined as a 
means of preventing "complications," and the 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 307 

"friendly advice" was accompanied by an intimation 
that "if China failed to meet Japan's advice in a 
satisfactory manner, and caused delay in adjusting 
the questions, it might not be possible for Japan 
to continue to restrain the activities of Chinese revcH 
lutionists then sojourning in Japan/'* 

When the news relating to these secret demands 
finally leaked out, they were at first persistently 
denied by the Japanese Government and its officials. 
When the British Minister at Peking made direct 
inquiries, the Japanese Minister, after evasions, "ad- 
mitted that a memorandum had been presented to 
China; but asserted that only eleven points were 
raised, and that these did not infringe upon China's 
political autonomy, or the rights of other foreign 
nations."! 

In the eleven proposals which Japan published 
to the world as those containing the whole or the 
gist of her demands, the articles of Group V were 
omitted, together with many other important mat- 



♦Millard, Our Eastern Question, page 131, The case is 
thus stated by Professor Jenks in the World's Work for 
January, 1917; "She (Japan) presented a list of twenty-one 
demands in manner insulting to the Chinese Government. 
She demanded secrecy, threatening the Chinese President and 
ignoring China's foreign office; she violated the secrecy. 
The secret out, she issued, deliberately, false statements to 
the Treaty Powers, the United States included. She doc- 
tored the news and prevaricated to officials and the press." 
He adds: "These statements are fully proved by official 
documents. There is no denying the facts." 

tMillard, op. cit., page 144. 



3o8 MODERN JAPAN 

ters, such as the restrictions upon the rights of China 
to grant railway concessions or loans to third Powers 
and the far-reaching second article of the third 
group relating to the Hanychping Company. 

Japan at first tried to persuade China to accede 
to the twenty-one demands en bloc without debate. 
When this failed, a series of twenty- four confer- 
ences were held between February 2 and April 17, 
J915, of which, in accordance with the wishes of 
Japan, no official minutes were kept In March 
the Japanese began to dispatch large bodies of 
troops to Manchuria and Shantung, alleging the 
need of relieving the garrisons there, whose term 
of service had not, however, expired. The Japan- 
ese Minister stated at one of the conferences that 
these troops would not be withdrawn until negotia- 
tions had been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. 
Before the completion of the negotiations some 
sixty thousand Japanese troops had been sent to 
Manuchuria and Shantimg and to points on the 
Yangtse River. 

These negotiations were carried on during an 
election in Japan and it is possible that some of the 
demands were inspired by the needs of the political 
campaign."^ But it is more likely that the influ- 
ences resulting from a vigorous publicity campaign 
and British and American representations were 
more powerful in inducing the Japanese Govern- 



*This appears to have been admitted with reference to the 
demand in favor of Japanese Buddhistic propaganda in China. 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 309 

ment to modify its demands than the fact that the 
election in Japan resulted in a landslide in favor of 
the Okuma Government. 

On April 26th the Japanese Minister offered at a 
suitable opportunity to restore Kiao-chou to China 
and presented a revised edition of twenty-four de- 
mands which were declared to be final. In this 
revision a few of the items contained in Group 
V were retained, in spite of the fact that the de- 
mands of tliis group had been declared to be merely 
"wishes." In their reply of May ist the Chinese 
agreed to nearly everything asked for in the revi- 
sion, but rejected several of the demands relating to 
Eastern Inner Mongolia and the one which required 
the concession to Japan of the right to construc^t 
railway lines in South China. "The Chinese also 
asked again that Japan agree to the retrocession of 
Shantung and provide indemnification for the loss- 
es caused to Chinese subjects by the military cam- 
paign in that province; and that Japan recognize 
the right of China to participate in the negotiations 
which would take place between Japan and Germany 
with regard to Shantung."* 

Thereupon Japan withdrew her conditional offer 
for the restoration of Shantung and on the 7th of 
May presented a forty-eight hour ultimatum which 
declared that "the Chinese Government not only 
did not give a careful consideration to the revised 
proposals, but even with regard to the offer of the 

*Hornbeck, Contemporary Politics in the Far East, page 
324. 



3IO MODERN JAPAN 

Japanese Government to restore Kiao-chou to the 
Qiinese Government, the latter did not manifest 
the least appreciation of Japan's good will and dif- 
ficulties."* 

On the morning" of May 9th the Chinese Gov- 
ernment agreed to the terms laid down in the ulti- 
matum and the Sino- Japanese crisis of 191 5 was 
over. So far as we knowf only the United States 
protested against the agreement thus wrung from 
China by the threat of war. On May i6th the fol- 
lowing identical notes were delivered to the Chinese 
and Japanese Governments : 

"In view of the circumstances of the negotiations 
which have taken place or which are now pending 
between the Government of China and the Govern- 
ment of Japan and the agreements which have been 
reached as a result thereof, the Government of the 
United States has the honor to notify the Govern- 
ment of the Chinese Republic [or the Government 
of Japan] that it cannot recognize any agreement 
or undertaking which has been entered into, or 



*A11 obligation to restore Kiao-chou is denied in the ulti- 
matum. Five articles of Group V were reserved for future 
consideration. Japan also declared in an explanatory note 
that "if the Chinese Government accepts all the articles as 
demanded in the ultimatum, the offer of the Japanese Gov- 
ernment to restore Kiao-chou . . . will still hold good." 

fit is extremely likely that Great Britain also brought 
pressure to bear upon Japan at this time, for her interests, 
especially in the Yangtse Valley, were very seriously threat- 
ened. But documentary evidence is lacking to support this 
contention. 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 311 

which may be entered into between the Government 
of China and Japan impairing the treaty rights of 
the United States and its citizens in China, the po- 
Htical or territorial integrity of the RepubHc of 
China, or the international poHcy, commonly known 
as the open door policy." 

IV 

The terms thus imposed upon China were em- 
bodied in a series of treaties, agreements, exchanges 
of notes and declarations which were signed on May 
25th. They do not include the most dangerous 
demands of group V (which were reserved for fur- 
ther discussion), nor do they embody the vague and 
far-reaching stipulation referred to above respect- 
ing the interests of the Hanychping Company in the 
Yangtse Valley. But by an exchange of notes it 
was agreed that this Company should not be con- 
verted into a state enterprise and that there should 
be co-operation between the Company and Japan- 
ese capitalists. 

Most of the demands relating to Shantung and 
Southern Manchuria were incorporated into sepa- 
rate treaties, though China undertook herself to build 
the proposed railway from Chefoo or Lungkow to 
Weihsien with Japanese capital, and it is provided 
that Japanese subjects in Southern Manchuria (to 
whom the right of free residence and travel is 
granted) shall "submit to the police laws and ordi- 
nances and taxation of China." 



312 ' MODERN JAPAN 

An exchange of notes granted an extension of the 
leases of Port Arthur and Dalny and of the South 
Manchurian and Antung-Mukden Railways to the 
years 1997, 2002 and 2007 respectively. A number 
of treaty-ports in Shantung and Mongolia were to 
be opened, and a number of mines were to be se- 
lected by Japanese subjects in South Manchuria. 

"China will hereafter provide funds for building 
necessary railways in South Manchuria and Eastern 
Inner Mongolia ; if foreign capital is required, China 
may negotiate for a loan with Japanese capitalists 

first If foreign advisers or instructors on 

political, financial, military or police matters are to 
be employed in South Manchuria, Japanese may be 
employed first." 

The Chinese Government also declared that it Had 
given no permission to foreign nations to construct, 
on the coast of Fukien Province (opposite Formo- 
sa), dock-yards, coaling stations for military use, 
naval bases, or to set up other military establish- 
ments;" and that it entertained "no intention of 
borrowing foreign capital for the purpose of set- 
ting up the above mentioned estabhshments."* 

With respect to the leased Territory of Kiao- 
chou Bay, the Japanese Government declared a will- 
ingness to restore it to China on the following con- 
ditions : 



*This declaration wrested from China was particularly- 
directed against Americans who were interested in a project 
for the construction of a Chinese naval base at Fukien. 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 313 

**!. The whole of Kiao-chou Bay to be opened as 
a Commercial Port. 

"2. A concession under the exclusive jurisdiction 
of Japan to be established at a place designated by 
the Japanese Government. 

"3. If the foreign Powers desire it, an interna- 
tional concession may be established. 

"4. As regards the disposal to be made of the 
buildings and properties of Germany and the con- 
ditions and procedure relating thereto, the Japanese 
Government and the Chinese Government shall ar- 
range the matter by mutual agreement before the 
restoration." 

The terms thus finally wrung from China were 
much more moderate than were the original de- 
mands and were regarded as a failure in Japan, 
but they nevertheless mark a very considerable ad- 
vance in the process of obtaining political and eco- 
nomic control over China. They have undoubtedly 
served to fasten the grip of Japan on Southern Man- 
churia and Shantung, and they constitute an en- 
croachment in Eastern Mongolia, Fukien and the 
Yangtse Valley, where British interests were sup- 
posed to dominate. They greatly strengthen the 
hands of Japan in dealing with the Chinese Gov- 
ernment and may, in fact, be said to menace Peking 
itself. Kiao-chou may, indeed, be "restored," but 
it will be under such conditions as to leave Japan 
virtually predominant in Shantung. 

There naturally followed a strong reaction against 
Japan in China which for several months found ex- 



314 MODERN JAPAN 

pression in a boycott of Japanese goods. It is pre- 
mature to attempt to follow Japanese intrigues in 
connection with the attempt of Yuan-Shih-Kai to 
change the form of government in China from a 
republic back to a monarchy and the resulting revo- 
lutionary movement in Yunnan. In October, 191 6, 
we heard of new Japanese demands upon China for 
further privileges of Japanese subjects in Southern 
Manchuria and Eastern Mongolia,* but the suc- 
cession of Count Terauchi to the Premiership of 
Japan at about this time appears to have inaugu- 
rated a change in methods, f if not of policy, toward 



*These demands are thus summarized in The Outlook for 
Oct. 4, 1916: 

"i. A reduction of the Chinese forces stationed in South- 
ern Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia. 

"2. More Japanese police officers to be employed by Chin- 
ese authorities in Southern Manchuria. 

"3- Japanese officers to be attached to Chinese forces sta- 
tioned in Southern Manchuria and Eastern Inner Mongolia. 

"4. Japanese officials to be employed at military schools. 

"5. The Chinese Governor of Mukden to make apologies 
to the Japanese Governor at Darien and the Japanese Con- 
sul at Mukden for the attack by Chinese soldiers on Japanese 
soldiers." 

According to the Japan Mail (weekly) for Jan. 27^ 1917, 
all these demands were subsequently either dropped by the 
Japanese Government or reserved for future settlement, ex- 
cepting those for apology, punishment and compensation, 
which were conceded by China. This would seem to indi- 
cate that the policy of the Terauchi Government toward China 
has become more conciliatory than that of previous Cabinets. 

fCriticism in Japan was directed not so much against the 
policy of Count Okuma and Baron Kato as against their 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 315 

China. Though a representative of the military 
clique, Terauchi seems to have adopted a more mod- 
erate tone, and appears disposed to try a more 
friendly and conciliatory policy. As stated by the 
editor of Japan and the Japanese/^ there is need of 
"harmonious co-operation" between these members 
of one family who are too prone to quarrel. Accord- 
ing to this v^riter, the hopes of Japan have been 
sadly disappointed because of China's "revengeful 
spirit" and her traditional and "egotistic" policy of 
checking her neighbor's progress on the continent 
of Asia, 

The most significant event in the foreign politics 
of the Far East, prior to the outbreak of the Rus- 
sian Revolution, was the growing rapproachcment 
between Russia and Japan which resulted in the 
signing of a sort of defensive treaty of alliance in 
July, I9i6.t 

The published portion of this agreement binds 
each party to refrain from any political arrange- 
ment or combination against the other, and in case 
the territorial rights or special interests in the Far 
East of one of the contracting parties are menaced. 



methods. By some these methods were held to be too drastic; 

by others insufficiently so. 

*In the Japanese Magazine for May, 1916. Another writer 
in this magazine (see July, 1916) accuses the United States 
of "taking advantage of China's weakness in a crisis" by 
offering her loans. 

ICf. pages 348-349- 



3i6 MODERN JAPAN 

Japan and Russia will act in concert for the pro- 
tection of these rights and interests. 

V 

Japanese statesmen and publicists have attempted 
to justify their treatment of China by speaking of 
a "Monroe Doctrine for Asia" or of an "Asia for 
the Asiatics" movement. Count Okuma and other 
Japanese idealists have repeatedly spoken of the 
mission of Japan to serve as an intermediary be- 
tween the East and the West, or as a harmonizer of 
Eastern and Western civilizations. It would thus 
seem that Japan aspires to a sort of hegemony or 
leadership of Eastern Asia with a view to imposing 
a Japanized Kultur made up of a fusion of Eastern 
and Western elements upon at least the eastern por- 
tion of that vast continent. 

The analogy of Japan's policy in Asia with the 
Monroe Doctrine has some striking aspects, but is 
very misleading and imperfect. In so far as Japan 
desires to prevent further European political aggres- 
sion in Eastern Asia or to remove a political menace 
like that of Germany in possession of Tsing-tau, 
Americans are able to sympathize with Japan's at- 
titude. But in so far as the Monroe Doctrine for 
Asia includes aims of political aggression, exclu- 
sive or monopolistic concessions, a privileged posi- 
tion for purposes of commercial or industrial ex- 
ploitation, the analogy fails. The United States 
makes no such claims on the American Continent. 



JAPANESE AIMS IN CHINA 317 

The Monroe Doctrine was originally a defensive 
policy directed against the Holy or Quadruple Alli- 
ance of European States to prevent a threatened 
policy of interference in the internal affairs of 
certain Latin- American states. It was declared in 
1823: (i) that the American Continents were 
"henceforth not to be considered as subjects for 
future colonization by any European Powers ;" and 
(2) that we should consider any attempt on the 
part of the Allied Powers *'to extend their system 
to any part of this hemisphere, as dangerous to our 
peace and safety." But it was also declared that 
"with the existing colonies or dependencies of any 
European power, we have not interfered and shall 
not interfere." In its historically developed form, 
the Monroe policy may be said to mean that the 
American people would not tolerate without resist- 
ance the permanent seizure of territory, a future 
attempt at colonization, or an endeavor to control 
the political destiny of any free portion of this hem- 
isphere by an European or Asiatic Power.* 

♦The Monroe policy is often said to be vague, ill-defined, 
and uncertain in its meaning and application. This may be 
true with certain implications or corollaries which have 
been drawn from the Doctrine, such as the degree or extent 
of our responsibilities for the preservation of order or the 
payment of obligations contracted or guaranteed by I<atin- • 
American States. But it is not true with reference to the 
essence or substance of the Doctrine itself, upon which near- 
ly all authorities are agreed. Nor is it the case that the exist- 
ence of a sphere of interest or policy on this hemisphere pre- 
vents us from having such interests or policies elsewhere. 



3i8 MODERN JAPAN 

The United States has never demanded exclusive 
concessions, special privileges or political powers in 
Latin-America except in a few cases like those of 
Panama, Haiti and Cuba, where circumstances ren- 
dered such action tmavoidable. In this respect the 
Monroe Doctrine bears a striking resemblance to the 
Hay policy, which aimed to maintain the territorial 
integrity and political independence of China, and 
the open door or equal commercial opportunities for 
all nations. 

In respect to Japan's mission as mediator between 
Eastern and Western civilizations, as also in re- 
spect to her aspirations to Asiatic leadership, the 
most friendly students of Japanese character and 
institutions have grave doubts as to the fitness of 
Nippon for either role. Even such a patriotic, not 
to say chauvinistic, Japanese statesman as Count 
Hayashi* has admitted that "China is far richer 
than Japan" in what he calls "social civilization." 
Any missionary, trader or traveler in China will 
bear witness to the far-reaching and deep-seated an- 
tipathy of the Chinese to the Japanese. Moreover, 
the "Asia for the Asiatics" doctrine strongly advo- 
cated by many Japanese seems practically absurd to 
those who realize the vast interests of Russia and 
Great Britain in Eastern Asia — ^not to speak o'£ 
those of France, Holland and the United States. 



♦See Secret Memoirs, page 269. 



CHAPTER XVII 

JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 



Until the unfortunate action in 1906 of the San 
Francisco school board in ordering the segregation 
of Japanese school children, very few Americans 
had been conscious even of the possibility of any 
serious dispute ever arising between Japan and the 
United States. It is true that a few Americans 
may have vaguely remembered the Japanese protest 
against the annexation of Hawaii in 1898, but that 
protest had not been pressed and the incident was 
soon forgotten. 

It seems unnecessary to do more than to recall to 
the mind of any American or Japanese reader the 
warm and intimate friendship between the two coun- 
tries w^hich continued for over fifty years after the 
door of Japan had been pried open by Commodore 
Perry in 1854. The obligations of Japan to the 
United States are thus summarized by two eminent 
Japanese :* 

"Japan improved her educational, her banking 



♦Soyeda and Kamiya in a pamphlet on The Japanese Ques- 
tion in California (1915), page 3. 



320 MODERN JAPAN 

and currency systems and carried out many other 
changes in her institutions following the example 
of the Great Republic. She also sent many of her 
young men to be educated in American Universi- 
ties. 

"The refunding of the Shimonoseki indemnity, 
the good-will shown at the time of the treaty re- 
vision, and the services rendered during the Ports- 
mouth negotiations, have drawn Japan still closer to 
the United States of America.'* 

The first chill to this friendship seems to have 
occurred in 1905 when at the close of the Russo- 
Japanese War the Japanese plenipotentiaries at 
Portsmouth permitted themselves to be outwitted 
by the Russian Count de Witte, who, better than 
Baron Komura and his associates, knew how to play 
to the gallery of public opinion as represented by 
the American press. More serious perhaps upon 
Japanese public opinion was the failure to secure an 
indemnity from Russia. This served, to a certain 
extent, to arouse suspicion of the motives of the 
American people as represented by President Roose- 
velt, who acted as a sort of mediator in initiating 
the Peace of Portsmouth. As a matter of fact, 
President Roosevelt had not proffered his good of- 
fices without the knowledge that he was acting in 
accordance with the wishes of both the Russian and 
Japanese Governments, but for reasons best known 
to themselves the rulers of Japan appear never to 
have corrected these erroneous impressions among 
their people. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 321 

Since 1900 there had been a considerable increase 
in the number of Japanese immigrants into Pacific 
ports,* particularly at San Francisco. In the spring 
of 1905 the San Francisco Chronicle opened a very 
successful campaign against the Japanese in Cali- 
fornia and this was followed by the organization of 
the Asiatic Exclusion League made up mainly of 
trade unionists who objected to Japanese immigra- 
tion primarily on economic grounds, but whose 
propaganda appealed largely to race prejudice. 

II 

It was on May 6, 1905, that the board of educa- 
tion of San Francisco, dominated by trade unionists, 
unwisely decided to establish separate schools for 
Chinese and Japanese pupils, but no positive action 
was taken until after the great fire the next year.f 



♦"During the six years from 1901 to 1906, the total number 
immigrating directly was 34,491. For some years, however, 
this direct immigration was greatly augmented by an unfortu- 
nate indirect immigration by way of the Hawaiian Islands. 
. . . As against 39,53 1 admitted directly from Japan dur- 
ing the years 1902 to 1907, some 32,855 are reported to have 
sailed from Honolulu to the mainland." — Millis, The Japanese 
Problem, page 4. 

tOne pretext for this action was the alleged presence in 
the public schools of Japanese adults. "The total number of 
Japanese children in the twenty-three schools of the city was 
only ninety-three; of whom nine were sixteen years old, 
twelve were seventeen, six were eighteen, four were nineteen, 
and two were twenty. The remainder were all under sixteen 
years of age." — Millis, op. cit., page 13. 



322 MODERN JAPAN 

Then was issued a "separate school order*' requiring 
the transfer of the majority of the widely scattered 
Japanese pupils to the newly created Oriental School 
in the heart of the city. At about the same time 
a certain amount of mob violence developed in con- 
nection with the boycott of Japanese restaurants. 

The Japanese Government on October 23, 1906, 
protested against the action of the San Francisco 
school board, claiming that such race discrimination 
was in violation of treaty rights and the principles of 
the law of nations. The action of the board was 
based upon the authority of a state statute and in- 
volved difficult and controverted questions of con- 
stitutionality as well as of treaty interpretation and 
of international law. 

We can not here enter into a discussion of the 
technical or legal points at issue* — questions which 
have never been settled to this day; but there can 
be no question of the extreme unwisdom and rank 
injustice of the treatment of the Japanese by a 
large section of the people and press of California in 
this, as in other matters. 

On the other hand, it was and remains a matter 
for surprise that Count Hayashi, then Japan's For- 
eign Minister, should have deemed it necessary to 
raise the issue at that time and in that manner — 



*Any one interested in these questions may refer to 
the following articles: Judge Baldwin, in Columbia Law 
Review VII, (1907), pages 25 ff. ; Hershey, in American Politi- 
cal Science Review (1907), pages 393 ff. ; and Secretary Root, 
in American Journal of International Law, Vol. I, pages 273 ff. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 323 

a method which only resulted in an aggravation of 
the situation.* The citizens of Cahfornia and still 
less the people of the United States (who, in fact, 
for the most part sided with the Japanese against 
the San Franciscans in this unfortunate controversy) 
had not the remotest intention of offending or in- 
sulting Japan; but the Japanese are a very proud 
and sensitive people and deeply resented any dis- 
crimination against them, more especially one 
which classified them with other Orientals. 

The school controversy was settled by the media- 
tion of President Roosevelt, who induced the San 
Francisco authorities to modify the school ordinance 
so as merely to send all "alien'* children above ten 
years of age to a special school. He also secured 
from Congress the insertion in our new immigration 
act of February 25, 1907, of a clause providing that 



*Some observers maintain that immigration was the real 
issue and that the Japanese Government desired to prevent 
the passage of a discriminatory immigration law. Others 
have believed that it was in the nature of a flank or even 
sham attack to distract our attention from coming events in 
Manchuria. Says A. M. Pooley in his "Introduction'* to the 
Secret Memoirs, (page 20) : "Hayashi tried to shut America 
out from China by raising difficulties for her nearer home. 
. . . In a few months he killed the long established friend- 
ship between America and Japan." This seems to be putting 
the matter too strongly; for, judging from Count Hayashi's 
own discussion of the "American Question" (in the Secret 
Memoirs, pages 246 ff.), he did not consider the anti-Japanese 
agitation in California of much importance. In any case it 
must be said that the Japanese protest was a diplomatic blun- 
der and that it proved to be a boomerang. 



324 MODERN JAPAN 

the President might refuse entrance to certain classes 
of immigrants. Then in a so-called "gentlemen's 
agreement," the Japanese Government agreed to pre- 
vent emigration of laborers from Japan to the 
United States by a refusal of passports. 

This agreement seems to have been carried out by 
Japan in good faith and has proved very effective. 
Since 1908 the number of departures from the 
United States has exceeded the number of admis- 
sions.* 

Ill 

But this settlement of the immigration problem 
and the school controversy did not end the anti- 
Japanese agitation. What has been called the "pin- 
prick policy" which Japan adopted at this time had 
the effect of irritating many of those Americans 
(and they constituted a vast majority) who con- 
demned the Californian methods, but who neverthe- 
less believed in restricting immigration from the 
Orient. Even the Eastern press began to find fault 
with Japan's diplomacy. It is an open secret that 
President Roosevelt, who had warmly espoused the 
cause of Japan versics California, changed his atti- 
tude somewhat toward the Japanese, and his send- 
ing of the American fleet on its famous cruise in 
1907 was undoubtedly inspired by an ardent desire 
to increase American prestige in the Far East. 



=^See table of Japanese immigration statistics in Millis, 
page 18. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 325 

Another source of friction was the situation in 
China. Though it can not be said that the Ameri- 
can people as a whole were much interested in or 
greatly agitated by events in Manchuria, certain in- 
terests were offended by Japanese methods of trade 
and exploitation in that region and there was a 
growing sympathy with China as well as a growing 
distrust of Japanese aims. 

As has been already stated,* the Knox proposal 
in 1909 for the so-called neutralization of the Man- 
churian railways aroused fierce resentment in Japan 
and might perhaps be said to have given the final 
death-blow to the old American- Japanese friend- 
ship; but it could hardly be maintained that the 
Knox proposal represented a popular demand in 
the United States or, indeed, that the American 
public took much interest in the matter. The 
American people are as yet too ignorant of inter- 
national relations and too inexperienced in foreign 
affairs to be greatly concerned about what passes 
in remote regions of the world. ' 

Yet here and there voices were raised against the 
growing Japanese menace. Captain Hobson had 
started his anti- Japanese crusade, and the Hearst 
newspapers had already begun to print sensational 
articles and to manufacture war scares. Even lead- 
ing representatives of big business like Jacob Schiff 
of New York and Lester Shaw, Ex-Secretary of 

♦See supra, pages 287-2189, 



326 MODERN JAPAN 

the Treasury, raised warning voices against Japan. 
The vague but ominous phrase "Mastery of the Pa- 
cific" was frequently heard and exercised its hypnotic 
influence over the unthinking elements in both coun- 
tries. 

By July, 191 1, the danger of a clash between 
Japan and the United States was considered so seri- 
ous in England that the Anglo- Japanese Alliance 
was revised to exclude the possibiHty of Britain's 
being drawn into the conflict — a service on the part 
of Great Britain which has never been fully under- 
stood or appreciated in the United States. Article 
IV of the new Treaty of 191 1 declared : 

"Should either of the High Contracting Parties 
conclude a treaty of general arbitration with a third 
Power, it is agreed that nothing in this agreement 
shall impose upon such Contracting Party an obli- 
gation to go to war with the Power with whom 
such arbitration treaty is in force." 

The agitation in California continued and became 
more menacing than ever. Numerous anti-Japanese 
bills were being introduced into the California legis- 
lature each year. Finally, in January, 191 3, about 
forty such bills were introduced, and the jingo press 
of Japan became greatly excited, even to the point 
of threatening war. In the United States, outside 
of California, these bills were generally denounced. 
In spite of these threats and criticisms and in spite 
of Secretary Bryan's personal appeal, the California 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 327 

legislature passed the Heney-Webb land bill which 
provided in effect that aliens not eligible to citizen- 
ship should not hold or acquire land in that state. 
Governor Johnson signed the bill on May 19, 19 13.* 



IV 



The Japanese press and public were greatly 
wrought up over the passage of this bill. Mass 
meetings were held at which resolutions were passed 
denouncing the action of the California legislature 
as unjust and race discriminatory. Absurd rumors 
of aggressive acts or intended action on the part 
of one nation or the other circulated in both coun- 
tries. It must be said, however, that in the United 
States a vast majority of the newspapers strongly 



*The Act permits the leasing of land for agricultural pur- 
poses for a term not exceeding three years; also the leas- 
ing and occupation of houses, manufactories, warehouses, 
and shops, and the leasing of land for residential and commer- 
cial purposes. This legislation seems to have been inspired 
by a fear of future possibilities rather than by the existence 
of an actual condition. It was directed primarily against the 
future "danger" of an invasion of Japanese agriculturalists, 
more particularly fruit-growers. According to Mr. Millis 
(The Japanese Problem, page 132), the total acreage of land 
actually owned by Japanese in California was about 20,000 
acres in 1914, The estimates for the amount under Japanese 
control varies from nearly 100,000 to 255,980 acres. From the 
standpoint of actual conditions and eliminating considerations 
of future menace, we are inclined to agree with Mr. Millis 
(page 211) that the California Act was "unjust, impolitic, and 
unnecessary." 



328 MODERN JAPAN 

disapproved of the Webb Bill. It must also be 
admitted that on the whole the Japanese acted with 
more restraint than might have been expected under 
the circumstances. Many of their leaders stepped 
into the breach and counselled moderation and pa- 
tience. 

Viscount Chinda, then Japanese Ambassador at 
Washington, protested no less than three times 
against the action of the California legislature. The 
last protest was left unanswered, but at Japan's sug- 
gestion the diplomatic correspondence between the 
two Governments was published* in June, 19 14.* 

In his first protest Viscount Chinda claimed that 
the "Act in question was not only essentially unfair 
and discriminatory, but was inconsistent with the 
treaty provisions and was also opposed to the spirit 
and fundamental principle of unity and good under- 
standing upon which the conventional relations of 
the two countries depended." 

In his reply to this protest, Secretary Bryan 
urged that the "enactment was without any political 
significance, but was solely the result of particular 
economic conditions existing in California." It was 
further pointed out . . . that the declared in- 

*An attempt to conclude a special convention on the sub- 
ject failed. It was generally expected that Japan would test 
the constitutionality of the Webb Act in our Supreme Court, 
but this she declined to do on the ground that the issue was 
one for diplomatic adjustment. The student gets the impres- 
sion that the Japanese have never allowed for the constitutional 
difficulties under which our Federal Government labored. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 329 

tention of the law was to respect and preserve all' 
rights under existing treaties, and that in case of 
faikire to accompHsh that intent, the aggrieved Jap- 
anese would have the right to resort to the federal 
€ourts for the enforcement of their rights. It was 
added, in conclusion, that the economic policy of a 
single state with regard to a single kind of property- 
should not turn aside the strong and abiding cur- 
rents of generous and profitable intercourse and 
good understanding between the two nations.* 

In his second protest, Viscount Chinda set forth 
in fuller detail the points which he regarded as in 
contravention of existing treaty provisions. Secre- 
tary Bryan in his reply reiterated his previously 
expressed views to the effect that "the enactment 
was not a culmination of racial prejudice, but an 
outcome of a purely economical question.'' 

On June 4, 19 13, the Japanese Ambassador had 
an audience with the President and presented a 
memorandum in which the views of the Japanese 
Government were "frankly" set forth. The memo- 
randum stated in substance that as "Japan and the 
United States were geographically destined to be 
permanent neighbors, the people of the two countries 



♦It may be noted that the reply of the United States avoided 
the question as to whether the California law was in conflict 
with our treaty with Japan, which does not include the recipro- 
cal right to own or lease land for agricultural purposes. One 
difference between the two Governments was that each ex- 
pected the other to test the validity of the act in our courts. 



330 MODERN JAPAN 

were inevitably in a position to be brought in the 
future, economically and socially, into closer con- 
tact with each other, and that, as it would contribute 
to the mutual happiness of the two nations to per- 
fect the relationship of good neighborfiood by a pol- 
icy of reciprocal conciliation and co-operation, each 
nation, aspiring to be fair and just, should not com- 
mit any acts which might hurt the dignity or injure 
the feelings of the other." 

The President replied that he was ''fully alive 
to the importance of maintaining good relations be- 
tween the two nations" and explained at length, as 
did the Secretary of State, that the enactment in 
question was based purely on economical considera- 
tions and was not the outcome of racial prejudice.* 
He also added that if, on further study, the law 
should be found to be in conflict with treaty provi- 
sions, the administration would be prepared to seek 
a judicial remedy, and that, even in case a suit 
should not be instituted, means would be sought to 
compensate Japanese for any loss which they might 
have actually sustained. 

On July 1 6th, Secretary Bryan made a very 
lengthy reply to the second Japanese protest. He 
now argued the treaty question and offered three 



*These repeated statements in 3enial of race prejudice 
seem too absolute. Yet the authors are convinced that they are 
essentially true, however absurd this may seem to Japanese 
readers. Race prejudice was aroused and has been fanned 
or stimulated by real or imaginary economic interests. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 331 

suggestions by way of aids in the solution of the 
controversy: (i) In case the aggrieved Japanese 
should bring suit in the United States Court, the 
American Government would stand ready to use 
their good offices in securing a prompt and effica- 
cious determination of the cases; (2) the United 
States Government would stand ready to compen- 
sate any Japanese for losses actually sustained be- 
cause of the statute, or (3) to purchase from them 
their lands at their full market value prior to the 
enactment of the statute. 

This reply proving "far from satisfactory" to the 
Japanese Government, a third protest was handed to 
our Secretary of State on August 26th. In this 
note it was stated that the act "established a discrim- 
ination of a most marked and invidious character 
against Japan by depriving Japanese of the right of 
land ownership, while freely continuing the same 
right, not only in favor of the citizens of all the other 
Powers with which the United States maintains 
reciprocal treaty relations, but in favor of many non- 
treaty aliens, and that whatever causes may have 
been responsible for the measures, it could not be 
denied that in its final manifestation it was clearly 
indicative of racial prejudice, nor could any justifica- 
tion of the Act be found in the simple assertion that 
the legislation was the outcome of economic condi- 
tions and it was, moreover, pointed out that the 
question of immigration . . . had nothing 
whatever to do with the present controversy.'* 



332 MODERN JAPAN 

There being no reply to this last protest and nego- 
tiations for a new convention between the two Gov- 
ernments having failed, the Japanese Government 
officially terminated the controversy for the time be- 
ing in Jime, 19 14, but practically gave notice that 
the question would be reopened at a more conve- 
nient time. As late as January 21, 191 5, Baron Kato 
is reported to have said in the Japanese Diet : "The 
Imperial Government has found the replies of the 
American Government not at all satisfactory and 
recognizes the necessity of elaborating other plans 
for the solution of the pending questions. As re- 
gards the nature of these plans, the time to report 
them has not, to our regret, a.rrived"* 



It is not likely that Japan cares a great deal about 
the privilege as such of owning land in California. 
Back of this question of land tenure is the problem 
of immigration. "Politically there is the question 
of the right of the United States to make discrimi- 



♦Millard, Our Eastern Question, page 224. Mr. Millard 
regards this as "remarkably plain language for a responsible 
minister to use." It does sound somewhat cryptic, but it is 
to be hoped that Mr. Millard's interpretation is unjustified. 
The language used might mean that the Japanese intend to 
await a time when diplomatic pressure is more likely to prove 
effective. However, the possibility of an ultimatum is not 
wholly excluded. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 333 

natory immigration laws, and of the expediency of 
doing so; there is the question of the respective 
rights of the federal and state governments in deal- 
ing with aliens. Economically, there is the question 
of competition. Sociologically, there is the question 
of race prejudice."* 

Opinions differ as to whether the Japanese Gov- 
ernment really desires freedom of immigration and 
naturalization for its subjects, though there can be 
no doubt of the desire of many Japanese to emigrate 
to America, and particularly to such an El Dorado 
as California. There are indications of consider- 
able disapproval of the "gentlemen's agreement'* in 
Japan. Certainly the Japanese object to discrim- 
ination in all forms, and it is no adequate reply to 
these objections to point to the limitations upon 
alien land ownership and to the disabilities of for- 
eigners in Japan. f 

The Japanese Government has never raised the 
question of the national discrimination involved in 
our federal laws, which only permit the naturaliza- 
tion of "white persons" and "persons of African 
descent." There has been considerable criticism of 
these provisions in Japan and the expression of a 
desire to have them modified so as to permit the 
naturalization of Japanese. There could be no seri- 
ous objection to a modification in the interest of all 



♦Hornbeck, Contemporary Politics, page 373. 
tSee Millard, op. cit., pages 533 ff. on "The Disabilities of 
Aliens in Japan." 



334 MODERN JAPAN 

Orientals, provided it were understood that such a 
change would not be made the basis of further de- 
mands, or that Japan would not object to the in- 
corporation of the "gentlemen's agreement" in our 
immigration laws. 

Some believe that the California question has 
merely furnished Japan with a convenient diplo- 
matic weapon by means of which she has been able 
to divert America's attention and prevent interfer- 
ence with her designs on China.* Others main- 
tain that these controversies are merely the opening 
wedges for Japanese immigration to the Western 
Hemisphere, t 

One of the great problems of Japanese statesman- 
ship is to find an outlet and support for the six or 
seven htmdred thousand increase of population 
each year. The exploitation of the vast resources 
of China in the interest of trade and industry only 
afford a partial solution of this problem. There 
are, to be sure, still greater possibilities in improved 
methods of agriculture and manufacturing in the 
home land, and in the addition of a possible fifty 
to one hundred per cent, to the arable soil of the 
country. There is much undeveloped land in Hok- 



*For example, Hornbeck, op. cit., page 375. 

tAccording to Millard, op. cit., page 220, the primary 
object of Japanese policy is "to obtain the hegemony of east- 
em Asia and the Pacific Ocean." The secondary object is "to 
open a way for Japanese immigration to the Western Hemis- 
phere." 



JAPAN AND THt. UNITED STATES 335 

kaido, but the cold, inhospitable climate of the 
northern part of this island seems to repel Japanese 
settlers. Korea has proved more attractive, but 
Mancliuria has been a distinct disappointment as a 
field for Japanese colonization.* The thickly popu- 
lated provinces of China are naturally out of the 
question except for purposes of trade and industrial 
exploitation. 

For a time the Hawaiian Islands and California 
offered a most attractive field for prospective emi- 
grants, but since their doors have been practically 
closed Japanese prospectors have turned their eyes 
tov^ard the South Sea Islands and Latin America, 
more particularly Brazil, Peru and Mexico. f Some 
have even cast longing glances in the direction of 
the Dutch Elast Indies. 

The first condition for a future good understand- 
ing between the two countries is a realization of the 
fact in Japan that, so far as lies within our power, 
the doors of the United States are practically closed 
to all Oriental races. This is partly a matter of race 
prejudice, partly a deep-seated fear of the disas- 



*The same is true of Formosa, where less than one hun- 
dred thousand Japanese have settled. 

tit is interesting to watch the occasional flirtations be- 
tween Japan and Mexico. For example, in December, 1913, 
the Mexican special envoy De la Barra was received with 
great enthusiasm and welcomed as a sort of national guest. 
Judging from the sentiments expressed in the vernacular 
press at the time of the Vera Cruz expedition in the spring 
of 1914, General Huerta had a warm friend in Japan. 



336 MODERN JAPAN 

trous economic, political and social consequences 
which, it is feared, would follow in the wake of 
a flood of Asiatic immigrants. Whether rightly or 
wrongly, the great majority of our people are per- 
suaded that a considerable immigration from the 
Orient would result in a lowering of the standard 
of living, an economic competition fatal to the best 
interests of the white race, and to the introduction 
of large elements in our population which could 
not be assimilated.* 



VI 



There is an extensive literature on the question 
as to whether the Japanese are capable of assimila- 
tion in this country. Without dogmatizing on a 
difficult and much Controverted subject, there is 
good authority for the view that they are assimilable 
to a certain extent Certainly intermarriage (which 
is the surest effective means of assimilation) is, for 
all practical purposes, excluded in the case of Orien- 
tals, but the case of the Jews has shown us 
that very adequate assimilation may occur through 
the mere influence of the social environment 

It is of course impossible to estimate a priori 
how many Japanese gould be absorbed in this latter 



♦This is also the attitude of Canada and Australia. The 
Japanese Government, probably from motives of political ex- 
pediency, has never ventured to raise the issue of race dis- 
crimination in these countries. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 337 

way. Doubtless the number would be considerable 
if they could be distributed throughout the country 
at large, but we know that the bulk of the one hun- 
dred thousand Japanese domiciled in this country* 
reside on the Pacific Coast. Taking into consid- 
eration the acknowledged clannish habits of the 
Japanese, their somewhat fanatical devotion to the 
Mikado, their pronounced racial characteristics and 
the tendency toward segregation in particular locali- 
ties, it would hardly be safe or desirable to admit 
them in much greater numbers than at present. 

On the other hand, there seems to be no reason 
for still further exciting irritation and hostility in 
Japan by particular restrictions upon Japanese im- 
migration m our immigration laws. The "gen- 
tlemen's agreement" appears to be working smooth- 
ly and effectively, and nothing is to be gained by 
insistence upon our theoretical rlghts.f 

Each nation undoubtedly possesses the right of ad- 
mission or exclusion of aliens at its own will, wheth- 
er the rules of exclusion be general in character or 
applicable merely to persons of a particular class 



♦This is exclusive of the Hawaiian Islands. See the 
Japan Year Book for 1916, page 341, for a table of Japanese 
residing abroad. Out of a total of 171,581 given as residing 
in the U. S. A., there are 90,808 in the consular district of 
Honolulu, 53,459 in that of San Francisco, 15,984 in that of 
Seattle, and 6,893 in that of Portland. 

tin 1914 there were issued 8,398 passports to the U. 
S. A. See The Japan Year Book, page 35. 



33S' MODERN JAPAN 

or nationality. This is an incident of sovereignty. 
As Justice Gray said in an oft cited case :* 

"It is an accepted maxim of International Law, 
that every sovereign nation has the power, as inher- 
ent in sovereignty, and essential to self-preservation, 
to forbid the entrance of foreigners within its do- 
minions, or to admit them only in such cases and 
under such conditions as it may see fit to prescribe. 
In the United States this power is vested in the 
national Government, to which Congress has com- 
mitted the entire control of international relations, 
in peace as well as in war. It belongs to the polit- 
ical power of the Government, and may be exer- 
cised either through treaties made by the President 
and Senate, or through statutes enacted by Con- 
gress." 

Though it is not necessary to insist upon this 
right by formal enactment, it should never be aban- 
doned in principle. And this is one objection to Dr. 
Gulick's plan, which is advocated especially by paci- 
fists and missionaries. The plan provides for a 
general immigration law which shall apply impar- 
tially to all races. It is thus stated by Dr. Gulick 
himself : 

"The danger of an overwhelming Oriental immi- 
gration can be obviated by a general law allowing 
a maximum annual immigration from any land of 



*Nishimura v. United States (1891), 142 U. S., pages 
651, 659. It is a right which Japan also exercises in the 
case of Chinese laborers. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 339 

a certain fixed percentage of those from that land 
already here and naturalized. The valid principle 
on which such a law would rest is the fact that new- 
comers from any land enter and become assimi- 
lated to our life chiefly through the agency of those 
from that land already here. These know the lan- 
guages, customs, and ideals of both nations. Con- 
sequently, the larger the number already assimilated 
the larger the number of those who can be wisely 
admitted year by year. The same percentage rate 
would permit of great differences in actual numbers 
from different lands."* 

The Gulick plan would certainly seem to have the 
great merit of seriously curtailing immigration into 
this country from South and Eastern Europe as 
well as from China and Japan, while permitting 
a much increased immigration from Northern and 
Western Europe;! but such a law would still be 
discriminatory in spirit, and it would undoubtedly 
increase the demand for a removal of the federal 
discrimination against Orientals in the matter of 
naturalization. 

Taking the number of native-bom Japanese added 
to those capable of naturalization on the same terms 
as Europeans (for this is also a part of the new 
American Oriental policy announced by Rev. Gu- 
lick)? as the basis upon which to reckon the an- 

*The American Japanese Problem, pages 284 ff. See Millis, 
of>. cit., pages 293 ff,, for a modified Gulick plan. 

tSee table in Millis, on page 295. 

$Se€ pages 301-2 of The American Japanese Problem for an 
outline or summary of this policy. 



340 MODERN JAPAN 

nual five per cent, increase proposed by him, we 
find that, not counting those born from year to year, 
the number of Orientals in the country would be 
doubled about every fourteen or fifteen years. Mr. 
Flowers* has calculated that by the year 2000 we 
should have 6,400,000 Japanese in the country, not 
to speak of an even greater number of Chinese and 
other Orientals. Allowing for an addition per gen- 
eration of forty per cent, natural increase through 
births, we should have 7,110,400 Japanese and pos- 
sibly 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 Orientals by that not 
very remote date. Evidently, the Gulick plan is 
not as innocent as it looks, and though we need not 
be unduly frightened by Mr. Flowers' estimates (for 
other factors might enter into the problem) neither 
should we wholly ignore them in our forecast for the 
future. 



"^The Japanese Conquest, page 188. We do not ap- 
prove of the tone of this book, nor do we agree with many 
of its conclusions. Nevertheless, after making all due allow- 
ance for bias and exaggeration, it contains some true and in- 
teresting matter worthy of serious consideration. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

POSSIBILITIES OF WAR BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE 
UNITED STATES 



The questions so often asked, "Shall we have 
war with Japan?" or "Is war between Japan and 
the United States inevitable?" "Is war probable?" 
"Is it possible?" are hard to answer. "Possible?" 
yes. "Probable?" that depends. "Inevitable?" no. 

With the present temper of the Japanese people, 
their sensitiveness, keen sense of national honor, 
liability to sudden outbursts of passion in spite or 
perhaps because of their habitual power of self-con- 
trol, it is possible that an outbreak of mob violence 
on the Pacific Coast might precipitate an armed 
conflict. But this is not likely, under their present 
form of government, for the chauvinistic spirit of 
the masses is held in leash by leaders of the clan 
oligarchy, many of whom understand what sacri- 
fices a war with America would involve. It can 
not be affirmed that an increase in the power of the 
Japanese democracy would necessarily make for 
peace, at least in the immediate future. 

War between the two countries is certainly not 
341 



342 MODERN JAPAN 

inevitable unless it be made so by a failure of states- 
manship to solve the problems at issue, or by multi- 
plication of the causes of conflict. 

It is not likely that the Japanese Government will 
absolutely insist upon a greater freedom of immigra- 
tion into this country, though it will doubtless ob- 
tain as much as is possible in this direction without 
going to war. It will insist that there be no fur- 
ther discrimination such as was involved in the 
California land law or would be contained in an 
anti- Japanese immigration law. In this matter the 
Japanese Government seems to care more for form 
than for substance, the "saving of face" being the 
supreme consideration. Besides, it is well under- 
stood in Japan that a w^ar with the United States 
over the race or immigration issue might involve 
the British Empire, particularly Canada and Aus- 
tralia. 



II 



More serious and dangerous perhaps than the 
problems involved in the race and immigration is- 
sues are the possibilities of future conflict of interest 
and sympathy growing out of Japanese political 
and economic aims in China. While paying lip ser- 
vice and formal homage to the principle of the open 
door and equal opportunity, Japan is rapidly de- 
veloping a policy of her own in respect to China — 
a policy with which she feels that we have no right 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 327 

legislature passed the Heney-Webb land bill which 
provided in effect that aliens not eligible to citizen- 
ship should not hold or acquire land in that state. 
Governor Johnson signed the bill on May 19, 19 13.* 



IV 



The Japanese press and public were greatly 
wrought up over the passage of this bill. Mass 
meetings were held at which resolutions were passed 
denouncing the action of the California legislature 
as unjust and race discriminatory. Absurd rumors 
of aggressive acts or intended action on the part 
of one nation or the other circulated in both coun- 
tries. It must be said, however, that in the United 
States a vast majority of the newspapers strongly 



*The Act permits the leasing of land for agricultural pur- 
poses for a term not exceeding three years ; also the leas- 
ing and occupation of houses, manufactories, warehouses, 
and shops, and the leasing of land for residential and commer- 
cial purposes. This legislation seems to have been inspired 
by a fear of future possibilities rather than by the existence 
of an actual condition. It was directed primarily against the 
future "danger" of an invasion of Japanese agriculturalists, 
more particularly fruit-growers. According to Mr. Millis 
(The Japanese Problem, page 132), the total acreage of land 
actually owned by Japanese in California was about 20,000 
acres in 1914. The estimates for the amount under Japanese 
control varies from nearly 100,000 to 255,980 acres. From the 
standpoint of actual conditions and eliminating considerations 
of future menace, we are inclined to agree with Mr. Millis 
(page 211) that the California Act was "unjust, impolitic, and 
unnecessary." 



328 MODERN JAPAN 

disapproved of the Webb Bill. It must also be 
admitted that on the whole the Japanese acted with 
more restraint than might have been expected under 
the circumstances. Many of their leaders stepped 
into the breach and counselled moderation and pa- 
tience. 

Viscount Chinda, then Japanese Ambassador at 
Washington, protested no less than three times 
against the action of the California legislature. The 
last protest was left unanswered, but at Japan's sug- 
gestion the diplomatic correspondence between the 
two Governments was published in June, 19 14.* 

In his first protest Viscount Chinda claimed that 
the "Act in question was not only essentially unfair 
and discriminatory, but was inconsistent with the 
treaty provisions and was also opposed to the spirit 
and fundamental principle of unity and good under- 
standing upon which the conventional relations of 
the two countries depended. '* 

In his reply to this protest, Secretary Br^^an 
urged that the "enactment was without any political 
significance, but was solely the result of particular 
economic conditions existing in California." It was 
further pointed out . . . that the declared in- 

*An attempt to conclude a special convention on the sub- 
ject failed. It was generally expected that Japan would test 
the constitutionality of the Webb Act in our Supreme Court, 
but this she declined to do on the ground that the issue was 
one for diplomatic adjustment. The student gets the impres- 
sion that the Japanese have never allowed for the constitutional 
difficulties under which our Federal Government labored. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 329 

tention of the law was to respect and preserve all' 
rights under existing treaties, and that in case of 
failure to accomplish that intent, the aggrieved Jap- 
anese would have the right to resort to the federal 
courts for the enforcement of their rights. It was 
added, in conclusion, that the economic policy of a 
single state with regard to a single kind of property- 
should not turn aside the strong and abiding cur- 
rents of generous and profitable intercourse and 
good understanding between the two nations.* 

In his second protest, Viscount Chinda set forth 
in fuller detail the points which he regarded as in 
contravention of existing treaty provisions. Secre- 
tary Bryan in his reply reiterated his previously 
expressed views to the effect that "the enactment 
was not a culmination of racial prejudice, but an 
outcome of a purely economical question.'* 

On June 4, 19 13, the Japanese Ambassador had 
an audience with the President and presented a 
memorandum in which the views of the Japanese 
Government were "frankly" set forth. The memo- 
randum stated in substance that as "Japan and the 
United States were geographically destined to be 
permanent neighbors, the people of the two coimtries 



♦It may be noted that the reply of the United States avoided 
the question as to whether the California \a.rr was in conflict 
with our treaty with Japan, which does not include the recipro- 
cal right to own or lease land for agricultural purposes. One 
difference between the two Governments was that each ex- 
pected the other to test the validity of the act in our courts. 



330 MODERN JAPAN 

were inevitably in a position to be brought in the 
future, economically and socially, into closer con- 
tact with each other, and that, as it would contribute 
to the mutual happiness of the two nations to per- 
fect the relationship of good neighborhood by a pol- 
icy of reciprocal conciliation and co-operation, each 
nation, aspiring to be fair and just, should not com- 
mit any acts which might hurt the dignity or injure 
the feelings of the other." 

The President replied that he was "fully alive 
to the importance of maintaining good relations be- 
tween the two nations" and explained at length, as 
did the Secretary of State, that the enactment in 
question was based* purely on economical considera- 
tions and was not the outcome of racial prejudice.* 
He also added that if, on further study, the law 
should be found to be in conflict with treaty provi- 
sions, the administration would be prepared to seek 
a judicial remedy, and that, even in case a suit 
should not be instituted, means would be sought to 
compensate Japanese for any loss which they might 
have actually sustained. 

On July 1 6th, Secretary Bryan made a very 
lengthy reply to the second Japanese protest. He 
now argued the treaty question and offered three 



*These repeated statements in denial of race prejudice 
seem too absolute. Yet the authors are convinced that they are 
essentially true, however absurd this may seem to Japanese 
readers. Race prejudice was aroused and has been fanned 
or stimulated by real or imaginary economic interests. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 331 

suggestions by way of aids in the solution of the 
controversy: (i) In case the aggrieved Japanese 
should bring suit in the United States Court, the 
American Government would stand ready to use 
their good offices in securing a prompt and effica- 
cious determination of the cases; (2) the United 
States Government would stand ready to compen- 
sate any Japanese for losses actually sustained be- 
cause of the statute, or (3) to purchase from them 
their lands at their full market value prior to the 
enactment of the statute. 

This reply proving *'far from satisfactory" to the 
Japanese Government, a third protest was handed to 
our Secretary of State on August 26th. In this 
note it was stated that the act "established a discrim- 
ination of a most marked and invidious character 
against Japan by depriving Japanese of the right of 
land ownership, while freely continuing the same 
right, not only in favor of the citizens of all the other 
Powers with which the United States maintains 
reciprocal treaty relations, but in favor of many non- 
treaty aliens, and that whatever causes may have 
been responsible for the measures, it could not be 
denied that in its final manifestation it was clearly 
indicative of racial prejudice, nor could any justifica- 
tion of the Act be found in the simple assertion that 
the legislation was the outcome of economic condi- 
tions and it was, moreover, pointed out that the 
question of immigration . . . had nothing 
whatever to do with the present controversy." 



332 MODERN JAPAN 

There being no reply to this last protest and nego- 
tiations for a new convention between the two Gov- 
ernments having failed, the Japanese Government 
officially terminated the controversy for the time be- 
ing in June, 19 14, but practically gave notice that 
the question would be reopened at a more conve- 
nient time. As late as January 21, 191 5, Baron Kato 
is reported to have said in the Japanese Diet : "The 
Imperial Government has found the replies of the 
American Government not at all satisfactory and 
recognizes the necessity of elaborating other plans 
for the solution of the pending questions. As re- 
gards the nature of these plans, the time to report 
them has not, to our regret, arrived."* 



It is not likely that Japan cares a great deal about 
the privilege as such of owning land in California. 
Back of this question of land tenure is the problem 
of immigration. "Politically there is the question 
of the right of the United States to make discrimi- 



♦Millard, Our Bastern Question, page 224. Mr. Millard 
regards this as "remarkably plain language for a responsible 
minister to use.** It does sound somewhat cryptic, but it is 
to be hoped that Mr. Millard's interpretation is unjustified. 
The language used might mean that the Japanese intend to 
await a time when diplomatic pressure is more likely to prove 
effective. However, the possibility of an ultimatum is not 
wholly excluded. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 333 

natory immigration laws, and of the expediency of 
doing so; there is the question of the respective 
rights of the federal and state governments in deal- 
ing with aliens. Economically, there is the question 
of competition. Sociologically, there is the question 
of race prejudice."* 

Opinions differ as to whether the Japanese Gov- 
ernment really desires freedom of immigration and 
naturalization for its subjects, though there can be 
no doubt of the desire of many Japanese to emigrate 
to America, and particularly to such an El Dorado 
as California. There are indications of consider- 
able disapproval of the "gentlemen's agreement" in 
Japan. Certainly the Japanese object to discrim- 
ination in all forms, and it is no adequate reply to 
these objections to point to the limitations upon 
alien land ownership and to the disabilities of for- 
eigners in Japan.f 

The Japanese Government has never raised the 
question of the national discrimination involved in 
our federal laws, which only permit the naturaliza- 
tion of "white persons" and "persons of African 
descent." There has been considerable criticism of 
these provisions in Japan and the expression of a 
desire to have them modified so as to permit the 
naturalization of Japanese. There could be no seri- 
ous objection to a modification in the interest of all 



♦Hornbeck, Contemporary Politics, page 373. 
tSee Millard, op. cit., pages 533 ff. on "The Disabilities of 
Aliens in Japan." 



334 MODERN JAPAN 

Orientals, provided it were understood that such a 
change would not be made the basis of further de- 
mands, or that Japan would not object to the in- 
corporation of the "gentlemen's agreement" in our 
immigration laws. 

Some believe that the California question has 
merely furnished Japan with a convenient diplo- 
matic weapon by means of which she has been able 
to divert America's attention and prevent interfer- 
ence with her designs on China.* Others main- 
tain that these controversies are merely the opening 
wedges for Japanese immigration to the Western 
Hemisphere, t 

One of the great problems of Japanese statesman- 
ship is to find an outlet and support for the six or 
seven hundred thousand increase of population 
each year. The exploitation of the vast resources 
of China in the interest of trade and industry only 
afford a partial solution of this problem. There 
are, to be sure, still greater possibilities in improved 
methods of agriculture and manufacturing in the 
home land, and in the addition of a possible fifty 
to one hundred per cent, to the arable soil of the 
country. There is much undeveloped land in Hok- 



*For example, Hornbeck, op. cit, page 375. 

tAccording to Millard, op. cit., page 220, the primary 
object of Japanese policy is "to obtain the hegemony of east- 
ern Asia and the Pacific Ocean." The secondary object is "to 
open a way for Japanese immigration to the Western Hemis- 
phere." 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 335 

kaido, but the cold, inhospitable climate of the 
northern part of this island seems to repel Japanese 
settlers. Korea has proved more attractive, but 
Manchuria has been a distinct disappointment as a 
field for Japanese colonization.* The thickly popu- 
lated provinces of China are naturally out of the 
question except for purposes of trade and industrial 
exploitation. 

For a time the Hawaiian Islands and California 
offered a most attractive field for prospective emi- 
grants, but since their doors have been practically 
closed Japanese prospectors have turned their eyes 
toward tlie South Sea Islands and Latin America, 
more particularly Brazil, Peru and Mexico. t Some 
have even cast longing glances in the direction of 
the Dutch East Indies. 

The first condition for a future good understand- 
ing between the two countries is a realization of the 
fact in Japan that, so far as lies within our power, 
the doors of the United States are practically closed 
to all Oriental races. This is partly a matter of race 
prejudice, partly a deep-seated fear of the disas- 



*The same is true of Formosa, where less than one hun- 
dred thousand Japanese have settled. 

fit is interesting to watch the occasional flirtations be- 
tween Japan and Mexico. For example, in December, 1913, 
the Mexican special envoy De la Barra was received with 
great enthusiasm and welcomed as a sort of national guest. 
Judging from the sentiments expressed in the vernacular 
press at the time of the Vera Cruz expedition in the spring 
of 1914, General Huerta had a warm friend in Japan. 



336 MODERN JAPAN 

trous economic, political and social consequences 
which, it is feared, would follow in the wake of 
a flood of Asiatic immigrants. Whether rightly or 
wrongly, the great majority of our people are per- 
suaded that a considerable immigration from the 
Orient would result in a lowering of the standard 
of living, an economic competition fatal to the best 
interests of the white race, and to the introduction 
of large elements in our population which could 
not be assimilated.* 



VI 



There is an extensive literature on the question 
as to whether the Japanese are capable of assimila- 
tion in this country. Without dogmatizing on a 
difficult and much Controverted subject, there is 
good authority for the view that they are assimilable 
to a certain extent Certainly intermarriage (which 
is the surest effective means of assimilation) is, for 
all practical purposes, excluded in the case of Orien- 
tals, but the case of the Jews has shown us 
that very adequate assimilation may occur through 
the mere influence of the social environment 

It is of course impossible to estimate a priori 
how many Japanese tould be absorbed in this latter 



♦This is also the attitude of Canada and Australia. The 
Japanese Government, probably from motives of political ex- 
pediency, has never ventured to raise the issue of race dis- 
crimination in these countries. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 337 

way. Doubtless the number would be considerable 
if they could be distributed throughout the country 
at large, but we know that the bulk of the one hun- 
dred thousand Japanese domiciled in this country* 
reside on the Pacific Coast. Taking into consid- 
eration the acknowledged clannish habits of the 
Japanese, their somewhat fanatical devotion to the 
Mikado, their pronounced racial characteristics and 
the tendency toward segregation in particular locali- 
ties, it would hardly be safe or desirable to admit 
them in much greater numbers than at present. 

On the other hand, there seems to be no reason 
for still further exciting irritation and hostility in 
Japan by particular restrictions upon Japanese im- 
migration in our immigration laws. The "gen- 
tlemen's agreement'* appears to be working smooth- 
ly and effectively, and nothing is to be gained by 
insistence upon our theoretical rights.f 

Each nation undoubtedly possesses the right of ad- 
mission or exclusion of aliens at its own will, wheth- 
er the rules of exclusion be general in character or 
applicable merely to persons of a particular class 



♦This is exclusive of the Hawaiian Islands. See the 
Japan Year Book for 1916, page 341, for a table of Japanese 
residing abroad. Out of a total of 171,581 given as residing 
in the U. S. A., there are 90,808 in the consular district of 
Honolulu, 53,459 in that of San Francisco, 15,984 In that of 
Seattle, and 6,893 in that of Portland. 

fin 1914 there were issued 8,398 passports to the U. 
S. A. See The Japan Year Book, page 35. 



33S^ MODERN JAPAN 

or nationality. This is an incident of sovereignty. 
As Justice Gray said in an oft cited case :* 

"It is an accepted maxim of International Law, 
that every sovereign nation has the power, as inher- 
ent in sovereignty, and essential to self-preservation, 
to forbid the entrance of foreigners within its do- 
minions, or to admit them only in such cases and 
under such conditions as it may see fit to prescribe. 
In the United States this power is vested in the 
national Government, to which Congress has com- 
mitted the entire control of international relations, 
in peace as well as in war. It belongs to the polit- 
ical power of the Government, and may be exer- 
cised either through treaties made by the President 
and Senate, or through statutes enacted by Con- 
gress." 

Though it is not necessary to insist upon this 
right by formal enactment, it should never be aban- 
doned in principle. And this is one objection to Dr. 
Gulick's plan, which is advocated especially by paci- 
fists and missionaries. The plan provides for a 
general immigration law which shall apply impar- 
tially to all races. It is thus stated by Dr. Gulick 
himself : 

"The danger of an overwhelming Oriental immi- 
gration can be obviated by a general law allowing 
a maximum annual immigration from any land of 

*Nishimura v. United States (1891), 142 U. S., pages 
651, 659. It is a right which Japan also exercises in the 
case of Chinese laborers. 



JAPAN AND THE UNITED STATES 339 

a certain fixed percentage of those from that land 
already here and naturalized. The valid principle 
on which such a law would rest is the fact that new- 
comers from any land enter and become assimi- 
lated to our life chiefly through the agency of those 
from that land already here. These know the lan- 
guages, customs, and ideals of both nations. Con- 
sequently, the larger the number already assimilated 
the larger the number of those who can be w^isely 
admitted year by year. The same percentage rate 
would permit of great differences in actual numbers 
from different lands."* 

The Gulick plan would certainly seem to have the 
great merit of seriously curtailing immigration into 
this country from South and Eastern Europe as 
well as from China and Japan, while permitting 
a much increased immigration from Northern and 
Western Europe ;t but such a law would still be 
discriminatory in spirit, and it would undoubtedly 
increase the demand for a removal of the federal 
discrimination against Orientals in the matter of 
naturalization. 

Taking the number of native-bom Japanese added 
to those capable of naturalization on the same terms 
as Europeans (for this is also a part of the new 
American Oriental policy announced by Rev. Gu- 
lick) t as the basis upon which to reckon the an- 

*The American Japanese Problem, pages 284 ff. See Millis, 
op. cit., pages 293 ff., for a modified Gulick plan. 

tSee table in Millis, on page 295. 

$See pages 301-2 of The American Japanese Problem for an 
outline or summary of this policy. 



340 MODERN JAPAN 

nual five per cent, increase proposed by him, we 
find that, not counting those born from year to year, 
the number of Orientals in the country would be 
doubled about every fourteen or fifteen years. Mr. 
Flowers* has calculated that by the year 2000 we 
should have 6,400,000 Japanese in the country, not 
to speak of an even greater number of Chinese and 
other Orientals. Allowing for an addition per gen- 
eration of forty per cent, natural increase through 
births, we should have 7,110,400 Japanese and pos- 
sibly 15,000,000 to 20,000,000 Orientals by that not 
very remote date. Evidently, the Gulick plan is 
not as innocent as it looks, and though we need not 
be unduly frightened by Mr. Flowers' estimates ( for 
other factors might enter into the problem) neither 
should we wholly ignore them in our forecast for the 
future. 



*The Japanese Conquest, page 188. We do not ap- 
prove of the tone of this book, nor do we agree with many 
of its conclusions. Nevertheless, after making all due allow- 
ance for bias and exaggeration, it contains some true and in- 
teresting matter worthy of serious consideration. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

POSSIBILITIES OF WAR BETWEEN JAPAN AND THE 
UNITED STATES 



The questions so often asked, "Shall we have 
war with Japan?" or "Is war between Japan and 
the United States inevitable?" "Is war probable?" 
"Is it possible?" are hard to answer. "Possible?" 
yes. "Probable?" that depends. "Inevitable?" no. 

With the present temper of the Japanese people, 
their sensitiveness, keen sense of national honor, 
liability to sudden outbursts of passion in spite or 
perhaps because of their habitual power of self-con- 
trol, it is possible that an outbreak of mob violence 
on the Pacific Coast might precipitate an armed 
conflict. But this is not likely, under their present 
form of government, for the chauvinistic spirit of 
the masses is held in leash by leaders of the clan 
oligarchy, many of whom understand what sacri- 
fices a war with America would involve. It can 
not be affirmed that an increase in the power of the 
Japanese democracy would necessarily make for 
peace, at least in the immediate future. 

[War between the two countries is certainly not 
341 



342 MODERN JAPAN 

inevitable unless it be made so by a failure of states- 
manship to solve the problems at issue, or by multi- 
plication of the causes of conflict. 

It is not likely that the Japanese Government will 
absolutely insist upon a greater freedom of immigra- 
tion into this country, though it w^ill doubtless ob- 
tain as much as is possible in this direction v\rithout 
going to war. It will insist that there be no fur- 
ther discrimination such as was involved in the 
California land law or would be contained in an 
anti-Japanese immigration law. In this matter the 
Japanese Government seems to care more for form 
than for substance, the "saving of face" being the 
supreme consideration. Besides, it is well under- 
stood in Japan that a war with the United States 
over the race or immigration issue might involve 
the British Empire, particularly Canada and Aus- 
tralia. 



II 



More serious and dangerous perhaps than the 
problems involved in the race and immigration is- 
sues are the possibilities of future conflict of interest 
and sympathy growing out of Japanese political 
and economic aims in China. While paying lip ser- 
vice and formal homage to the principle of the open 
door and equal opportunity, Japan is rapidly de- 
veloping a policy of her own in respect to China — ^ 
a policy with which she feels that we have no right 



POSSIBILITIES OF WAR 343 

to interfere. She plainly showed her hand in the 
spring of 19 15, but whether or no* she will play 
her cards will depend upon the course of future 
events. 

The Japanese do not seem to realize that apart 
from our material and religious interests in China, 
we look upon the Chinese as our proteges in much 
the same manner as we regarded the Japanese them- 
selves after the success of Perry's expedition in 
1853-4. Whether, or to what extent, we are willing 
to back these interests by force or diplomacy re- 
mains to be seen. Certainly we can not hope to act 
alone unless we are willing to maintain a fleet in 
Pacific waters equal or superior to that of Japan's. 
If we entertain any purpose of going to the aid of 
China, our only hope of success will be in joining 
hands with England in such an enterprise, after the 
close of the present great European struggle. Per- 
haps something may be accomplished in this direction 
at the coming Peace Conference. In any case the 
Anglo- Japanese Alliance, as a separate alliance, can 
hardly long survive the war. 

It remains to be seen to what extent Japanese, 
American and British business men can co-operate 
in the pacific penetration and development of 
China's vast resources. This was the apparent 
purpose of Baron Shibusawa's (Japan's leading fin- 
ancier) recent visit to this country. The plan has 



*See supra, pages 302-314. 



344 MODERN JAPAN 

the enthusiastic support of Judge Gary and other 
American business men. If it succeeds, well and 
good; if it fails, it may only have added another 
source of future conflict. 

From all we have been able to learn, the Japanese 
have no present intention of invading or annex- 
ing the Philippine Islands. Yet we must remem- 
ber that these constitute a most vulnerable point 
of attack, and they add greatly to the difficulties 
of our problem of defense. Nor should we permit 
ourselves to forget that, from the Japanese point 
of view, our occupation and retention of these is- 
lands may be a source of some fear and disquietude. 

It would be easy to demonstrate that war between 
Japan and the United States would be disastrous 
from an economic or commercial point of view. 
We might show, for example, how difficult it would 
be for a debt-burdened and poverty-laden country 
like Japan to finance such a war; how injurious it 
would be to the trade of both countries, more es- 
pecially of Japan, who would be attacking her best 
customer; how the losses of the victor in such a 
struggle would greatly overbalance the gain. These 
economic considerations are not without weight as 
deterrents of war, though we fancy that they sound 
less convincing than they did prior to the outbreak 
of the Great War. And should the nationalistic 
anger of the whole people become thoroughly 
aroused, as it has on several occasions, it might be 
difficult for those in power to stem the tide. 



POSSIBILITIES OF WAR 345 

III 

The assumption frequently made in certain cir- 
cles that the difficulties between the two countries 
are due to mutual ignorance and misunderstanding 
and can be removed by campaigns of education con- 
tains a measure of truth, but something more is 
needed than handshakings accompanied by mutual 
felicitations and an exchange of compliments or 
expressions of good will. A mutual effort must be 
made to understand the issues involved, together 
with the point of view of each nation regarding 
them. 

The Japanese must be taught to understand that 
the race and immigration issues on the Pacific coast 
constitute an American economic* problem which 
can be solved in only one way — by the virtual exclu- 
sion of Oriental laborers. In the execution of this 
policy as much consideration as possible should be 
shown for Japanese (and Chinese) susceptibilities. 

Irritating, unjust and unnecessary laws like the 
Webb Act should be avoided, and our federal nat- 
uralization act might be revised so as to render it 
non-discriminatory. But on the main point the 
Japanese must be made to understand that no com- 
promise is possible. 



*One reason the Japanese have difficulty in seeing this is 
because they are not as yet conscious of a labor problem in 
Japan. They look at the question too exclusively from the 
race and capitalistic points of view. 



346 MODERN JAPAN 

In respect to Giina, it is our opinion that we 
should act in conjunction with England and France 
and adopt a policy looking toward the protection 
of American interests and the maintenance of Chi- 
nese rights which we must be prepared to back by 
force, if necessary, in conjunction with our allies. 
Japan and Russia should by no means be excluded 
from this partnership but should be treated fairly 
and with the utmost consideration. They should 
be encouraged to play an equally leading and hon- 
orable part in the great enterprise of reforming 
and reorganizing the Chinese Empire, though they 
should not be permitted to play a predominant part 
or a monopolistic role. The alternative for the 
United States is to withdraw from China and leave 
her to her fate. 

Finally, we must not falter in the formulation 
and execution of plans for complete military and 
naval preparedness. We have heard prominent Jap- 
anese express themselves to the effect that they 
wished we would arm and equip ourselves ade- 
quately. For, as in the case of China, an America 
which is militarily weak constitutes a standing temp- 
tation to strong militaristic nations like Japan and 
Germany. In such a world as this we are like a 
voice crying in the wilderness unless and imtil we 
have fully girded ourselves with armor. 



CHAPTER XIX 

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE INTERNATIONAL RE- 
LATIONS OF JAPAN 



Though relatively little was said about it at the 
time, there can be no question that the appar- 
ent aggressiveness and duplicity of Japan's policy 
in respect to China as illustrated by her conduct in 
Shantung and the notorious twenty-one demands* 
made a very unfavorable impression in Europe as 
well as in America. That German intriguers and 
propagandists were busy in misrepresenting the at- 
titude and conduct of Japan in Western countries, 
and particularly in the United States, is undeniable; 
but that Japan gave no cause for alarm and sus- 
picion in the West during the spring and summer 
of 191 5 can scarcely be maintained in the face of 
the factSw 

The British press, fearing to alienate Japan dur- 
ing the crisis of the Great European War, for the 
most part remained silent, but American newspa- 
pers were not so reticent. In Japan itself a strong 
feeling against the Anglo-Japanese Alliance devel- 



*See chapter xvi. 

347 



348 MODERN JAPAN 

oped in consequence of the fearless expression of 
British opinion in the Far East. 

The relations between Japan and the United 
States, which continued somewhat strained owing 
to the California land act and the Japanese de- 
mands on China, improved perceptibly in conse- 
quence of a visit by Baron Shibusawa, the 
Pierpont Morgan of Japan, to this country in the 
autumn of 191 5. He advocated "co-operation" be- 
tween Japan and the United States in the exploita- 
tion of China's vast natural resources — 3. scheme 
which was labeled by a Chinese writer as an alliance 
between "American money and Japanese brains.''* 

Meanwhile mutual interests in Manchuria and 
Mongolia as well as a certain alienation between 
Japan and Great Britain were drawing Japan and 
Russia into closer bonds of alliance. Since the out- 
break of the Great European War Japan had also 
been supplying vast quantities of munitions to Rus- 
sia, and this may also be counted as an important 
factor in the consummation of a rapproachement 
between Japan and Russia, which had begun as early 
as 1907. The text of the Russo-Japanese Agree- 
ment, as given out by the Japanese Foreign Office, 
negotiated in July, 19 16, is so brief that it may be 
given in full. 

"First — Japan will not become a party to any 
arrangement or political combination directed 

*H. K. Long, in Review of Reviews for April, 1916. Count 
Okuma once proposed a similar scheme for England and Japan. 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 349 

against Russia. Russia will not become a party to 
any arrangement or political combination directed 
against Japan. 

"Second — In case the territorial rights or special 
interests in the Far East of one of the High Con- 
jtracting Parties recognized by the other are men- 
aced, Japan and Russia will act in concert on the 
measures to be taken in view of the support or 
co-operation necessary for the protection and defer- 
ence of these rights and interests.'' 

Whether the phrase "support or co-operation" 
be interpreted as involving a mere entente cordiale 
or a formal alliance, there can be no question 
that the treaty amounts to a virtual defensive-of- 
fensive alliance, though it became, of course, a mere, 
"scrap of paper" after the outbreak of the Russian 
Revolution. 

There can also be no doubt that, according to 
its expressed terms, the alliance was generally di- 
rected against any Power, including Great Britain 
and the United States, which might menace "the 
territorial rights or special interests in the Far 
East" of either Russia or Japan.* 

♦Attached to this convention, there appears to have been 
a set of "secret" agreements which have thus been sum- 
marized by a Japanese writer (Kawakami) in the Review of 
Reviews of September, 1916: 

"Russia cedes to Japan the Chang-chun-Taolaisho section 
N(about 75 miles) of the Chang-chun-Harbin branch of the 
Manchurian railway. For this Japan pays Russia about 
$7,000,000 in war supplies. 

"Russia, with the consent of China, extends to Japan the 
privilege of navigating the Second Sungari River." 



35a MODERN JAPAN 

Both Japan and Russia gave the United States 
the usual assurances that the agreement contained 
nothing in any way infringing upon the sovereignty 
of China or violating the principles of the open door 
and equal opportunity. 

Some light may possibly be thrown upon the Jap- 
anese meaning attached to the phrase "territorial 
rights and special interests" by the new Japanese 
demands upon China which followed the Cheng- 
Chiatung Affair. This was one of those unfortu- 
nate Chino- Japanese episodes which have become 
quite frequent in recent years. According to the 
Tokyo version, on or about August 15, 19 16, some 
Chinese troops attacked the Japanese garrison at 
Cheng-Chiatung near Mukden. There resulted sixty- 
five casualties, including seventeen killed and one 
officer wounded. The clash is said to have been 
due to the resistance to arrest by the Chinese author- 
ities of Japanese vendors of arms from Mongolia. 

Having dispatched several thousand troops, Ja- 
pan was reported, early in September, to be press- 
ing a number of drastic demands upon China. In 
addition to the usual demands for apology, punish- 
ment of the reputed offenders and an indemnity, 
the Japanese demands appear to have included po- 
lice rights in Southern Manchuria and Eastern In- 
ner Mongolia, as well as the extension of certain 
rights to Inner Mongolia acquired by Japan from 
China in 191 5. The Japanese Government also re- 
quested that Japanese officers be appointed as in- 
structors in the Cadet School (presumably at Muk- 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 351 

den), and suggested that the Chinese Government 
ask for Japanese advisers in South Manchuria and 
Inner MongoHa. In reply to inquiries by our State 
Department at Tokyo, there were, of course, the 
usual assurances respecting the open door and ter- 
ritorial integrity of China. 

These negotiations seem to indicate that the Rus- 
so-Japanese compact of July, 191 6, included a de- 
limitation of the respective Russian and Japanese 
interests in Mongolia. Russia had already absorbed 
Outer Mongolia and Japan was now proceeding to 
swallow her portion. 

On February 12, 191 7, it was reported that Ja- 
pan had withdrawn her demand upon China for the 
employment of Japanese army officers as advisers in 
the Chinese army and the establishment of Japanese 
police stations in Eastern Inner Mongolia. And it 
appears that by the end of February an agreement 
had been reached which settled matters to the 
mutual satisfaction of both Governments. China 
granted an indemnity and agreed to reprimand and 
punish the responsible officers, but refused police 
rights in Southern Manchuria and Eastern Inner 
Mongolia. China appears to have disapproved the 
suggestion for the employment of Japanese mili- 
tary advisors and instructors. 



II 



The campaign for mihtary preparedness con- 
ducted in the United States during the year 19 16 



352 MODERN JAPAN 

was in some quarters suspected as being directed 
against Japan. This suspicion was, of course, fos- 
tered by German agents, propagandists and cer- 
tain newspapers. While there was little or no ground 
for such a surmise, in the background of the unex- 
pressed thought of a large number of Americans 
there doubtless lay the idea that it might be well 
to be prepared for a possible trial of strength against 
Japan as well as against Germany. "The Japanese 
Menace" was regarded as a potential rather than 
an actual menace, and there were many who be- 
lieved that the accomplishment of preparedness or 
a display of military and naval power would be suf- 
ficient for our purpose so far as Japan was con- 
cerned. 

The change of ministry in Japan in October, 19 16, 
at first aroused some misgivings in the Western 
world. Count Terauchi, the new Premier, former 
Minister of War and Resident General in Korea, 
was believed to represent the aggressive militaristic 
spirit of Japan as well as the Japanese bureaucracy 
and system of clan government. 

But Count Terauchi confounded the predictions 
of the prophets of evil. He at once announced that 
the closing of the doors of China was a non pos- 
sumus, and declared that "so long as Japan's in- 
terests and dignity are not infringed, . . . Japan will 
take no aggressive step toward any nation, especially 
America." He asserted that he did not intend to 
take up the question of immigration and State dis- 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 353 

criminatory legislation with the United States, but 
that a new agitation in CaHfomia against the rights 
of Japanese to hold lands might be regarded by the 
sensitive Japanese as an "infringement on Japan's 
dignity.'' Respecting Japan's policy in China, Pre- 
mier Terauchi said : 

"Japan's ambition is to have China benefit, like 
Japan, from the fruits of world civilization and 
world progress. The Japanese and Chinese people 
have sprung from the same stock. Our future des- 
tiny is a common destiny that is historically in- 
volved." 

As early as January 2^, 191 7, when it must have 
become evident in inner diplomatic circles that the 
United States would be drawn into the Great War, 
there were indications of an increase of interest and 
activity looking forward to a greater participation 
in the struggle on the part of Japan. Premier Te- 
rauchi asserted in the Japanese Diet that Japan was 
"working in unreserved unison with the Allies." 
And Viscount Motono, the Japanese Foreign Min- 
ister, expressed a strong desire for amicable rela- 
tions with the United States. He added: 

"I observe with great joy the symptoms of most 
genuine sympathy manifested for some time between 
the two countries. Thus proposals for common ac- 
tion in the financial affairs of China have been made 
by American capitalists." 



354 MODERN JAPAN 

In speaking of Japan's relations with Qiina, Vis- 
count Motono even admitted that "the greatest 
cause for China's mistrust of Japan was the regret- 
table Japanese tendency to interfere in China's do- 
mestic quarrels." He added that Japan should rec- 
ognize the immense interests of other nations in 
China, co-operate with powers with which there are 
special arrangements, and generally seek to concil- 
iate her interests with those of other nations. "Ja- 
pan," he said, "has no intention of pursuing an ego- 
tistic poHcy." 

At the annual dinner of the Silk Association of 
America in New York City on February 3rd, Mr. 
Sato, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, 
spoke of Japan and the United States joining "hand 
in hand" in the promotion of the world's civiliza- 
tion. And Dr. lyenaga, generally regarded as the 
unofficial spokesman for Japan in this country, de- 
clared that Japan was determined upon the defeat 
of Germany for the good of the whole world. 
Among other interesting things, he said: 

"While I do not wish to overrate the part Japan 
has taken in the war, I cannot let pass unchallenged 
the charge now and then made that she is indifferent 
to the cause of the Allies. It was neither the wish 
of her allies nor that of Japan that she should thrust 
herself upon the European stage, for it is none of 
her part to act therein. This is the sole reason why 
she is today standing aloof, doing in the meantime 
to her best ability what it is within her province to 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 355 

do, namely, supplyng her allies with munitions and 
subscribing to their loans. That she is deeply inter- 
ested in the triumph of the Allies is evident from 
the fact that she has most zealously backed their 
decision to reject the peace proposals offered by the 
Central Powers." 

Is it not clear that the far-sighted men who rule 
the destinies of Nippon had noted which way the 
wind was beginning to blow, and had hastened, and 
somewhat modified, their course accordingly ? And 
let it be noted that this was before the outbreak of 
the Russian Revolution. 



Ill 



But it was not all clear sailing in this attempt 
to secure improved relations between Japan and the 
United States. Due probably to German intriguers, 
there was a revival of 'Svar talk" in the early 
months of 191 7, including rumors of a proposed 
Triple Alliance between Russia, Japan and Ger- 
many. 

Early in February the Administration at Wash- 
ington, after Ambassador Sato's visit to the State 
Department, apparently succeeded in repressing 
anti-alien land bills then pending in the legislatures 
of Oregon and Idaho. 

On March i, 191 7, was published the notorious 
Zimmerman note, signed on January 19, 191 7, pro- 
posing an alliance between Germany and Mexico 



356 MODERN JAPAN 

for war on the United States, and suggesting that 
the President of Mexico seek the adherence of Ja- 
pan to this plan. This note, which laid bare the 
machinations of Germany in respect to Mexico and 
Japan, appears to have aroused considerable feeling 
in Japan, who resented the imputation upon her 
honor implied in the German note. 

It is too soon to attempt to unravel the tangled 
threads of Japanese versus American and other Al- 
lied Diplomacy in connection with China's entry into 
the Great War. It must suffice to take note of the 
official denial of Japan that she in any way inter- 
fered with China's decision. But there seems even- 
tually to have resulted a clearer understanding be- 
tween Japan and China, as also between Japan and 
the United States. 

On May 28th, Premier Terauchi, in an address to 
the prefectural governors of Japan, welcomed the 
United States as an ally, and stated that the partici- 
pation of the United States was particularly satis- 
factory to Japan "because it materially strengthened 
the ties of interest binding Japan and America." 

In an address to the Japanese Diet on June 26th, 
Viscount Montono also welcomed us as an ally and 
rejoiced that Japan and the United States were now 
collaborating against common enemies. He predicted 
that their existing cordial relations would be further 
cemented by the war. 

In June, 191 7, there was some perturbation in 
Japan over a note which our State Department had 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 357 

sent to Peking expressing America's "sincere hope 
that factional and political disputes will be set aside 
and that all parties and persons will work to re- 
establish and co-ordinate the government and secure 
China's position among nations, which is impossible 
while there is internal discord/* 

This sincere and unselfish advice was looked upon 
with grave misgivings and suspicion in some quar- 
ters in Japan, and was regarded as an interference 
in Chinese internal affairs. It was intimated that 
the permission of the Japanese Government should 
first have been obtained before such a note was sent. 
This attitude was resented in the United States as 
a suggestion that the United States conduct its rela- 
tions with China through the intermediary of Japan. 

IV 

In July, 191 7, the Japanese Government decided 
to send to the United States the famous Mission 
headed by Viscount Ishii which landed at a Pacific 
port in August. It was received in this country with 
great courtesy and even enthusiasm. At a dinner 
given to the mission on August 14th, Viscount Ishii 
said: 

"We are here to say that in this tremendous strug- 
gle for those rights and liberties America and Ja- 
pan are bound together; that when the victory of 
the allied forces is secure America and Japan should 
so live that your sons and our sons will have a cer- 



358 MODERN JAPAN 

tamty of good neighborhood; so live that no word 
or deed of either can be looked upon with suspicion; 
that venomous gossip, hired slander, sinister in- 
trigue and influence, of which we have both been 
the victims, can in future only serve to bring us 
closer together for mutual protection and for the 
common welfare. 

"The importance of this co-operation was 
brought home to us particularly as we voyaged 
safely and pleasantly across the Pacific Ocean. We 
must indeed have assurance of good order in our 
neighborhood. We cannot, either of us, take risks. 
It becomes the first duty of Japan and America to 
guard the Pacific and to insure safe, continuous 
intercourse between Asia and the United States, to 
see to it that the ships of the ferocious pirates whose 
crimes upon the high seas can never be palliated 
find no shelter in the waters of our seas. 

*Tt is for us together to enforce respect for law 
and humanity upon the Pacific, from which the Ger- 
man menace was removed at the commencement of 
the war. Had this not been so, had the barbarian 
of Europe not been routed from his Oriental bases, 
the shuddering horrors of the Atlantic and the Med- 
iterranean would to-day be a grim reality on the 
Pacific. In the protection of our sea-going mer- 
chandise and men, in safeguarding the pleasures of 
intercourse, you may count on us as we must count 
on you." 

On November 6, 191 7, there was published the 
text of the important Ishii-Lansing Agreement — the 
result of extended conversations between Secretary 
of State Lansing and Viscount Ishii — which had 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 359 

been concluded on November 2nd. The material part 
of this Agreement, which took the form of an ex- 
change of identical notes, is as follows : 

"The Governments of the United States and 
Japan recognize that territorial propinquity creates 
special relations between countries, and, consequent- 
ly, the Government of the United States recognizes 
that Japan has special interests in China, particu- 
larly in that part to which her possessions are con- 
tiguous. 

"The territorial sovereignty of China, neverthe- 
less, remains unimpaired, and the Government of 
the United States has every confidence in the re- 
peated assurances of the Imperial Japanese Govern- 
ment that, while geographical position gives Japan 
such special interests, they have no desire to dis- 
criminate against the trade of other nations or to 
disregard the commercial rights heretofore granted 
by China in treaties with other powers. 

"The Governments of the United States and Ja- 
pan deny that they have any purpose to infringe in 
any way on the independence or territorial integrity 
of China, and they declare, furthermore, that they 
always adhere to the principle of the so-called *open 
door,' or equal opportunity for commerce and in- 
dustry in China. 

"Moreover, they mutually declare that they are 
opposed to the acquisition by any government of any 
special privileges that would deny to the subjects or 
citizens of any country the full enjoyment of equal 
opportunity in the commerce and industry of 
China." 

In an explanatory statement to the press, Secre- 



36o MODERN JAPAN 

tary Lansing referred to the "feeling of suspicion" 
which had been growing up between the peoples of 
the two countries — a "feeling which, if unchecked, 
promised to develop a serious situation. Rumors and 
reports of improper intentions were increasing and 
were more and more believed. Legitimate commer- 
cial and industrial enterprises without ulterior mo- 
tive were presumed to have political significance, 
with the result that opposition to these enterprises 
was aroused in the other country." 

"These rumors and suspicions," he said, "were 
fostered and encouraged by a campaign of false- 
hood conducted by Germany. 

"The visit of Viscount Ishii and his colleagues 
has accomplished a great change of opinion in this 
country. By frankly denouncing the evil influences 
which have been at work, by openly proclaiming 
that the policy of Japan is not one of aggression, 
and by declaring that there is no intention to take 
advantage commercially or industrially of the spe- 
cial relations to China created by geographical po- 
sition, the representatives of Japan have cleared the 
diplomatic atmosphere of the suspicions which had 
been so carefully spread by our enemies and by mis- 
guided or overzealous people in both countries. In 
a few days the propaganda of years had been un- 
done, and both nations are now able to see how near 
they came to being led into the trap which had been 
skillfully set for them." 

Secretary Lansing attributed to Viscount Ishii a 
spirit of sincerity and candor throughout the con- 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 361 

ferences which dispelled every doubt and inspired 
the greatest confidence. He gave the following 
valuation of the results of the negotiations : 

"The principal result of the negotiations was the 
mutual understanding which was reached as to-the 
principles governing the policies of the two Govern- 
ments in relation to China. The statements in the 
notes .... not only contain a reaffirmation of 
the 'open door' policy, but introduce a principle of 
non-interference with the sovereignty and territorial 
integrity of China, which, generally applied, is es- 
sential to perpetual international peace, as clearly 
declared by President Wilson, and which is the very 
foundation also of Pan- Americanism, as interpreted 
by this Government." 

Secretary Lansing also stated that the Japanese 
Mission had accomplished the further purposes of 
"expressing Japan's earnest desire to co-operate with 
this country in waging war against the German Gov- 
ernment." He said: 



"At the present time it is inexpedient to make 
public the details of these conversations [relating to 
Japan's participation in the war] , but it may be said 
that his Government has been gratified by the asser- 
tions of Viscount Ishii and his colleagues that their 
Government desired to do its part in the suppres- 
sion of Prussian militarism and was eager to 
co-operate in any practical way to that end. It may 
be added, however, that complete and satisfactory 
understandings upon the matter of the naval co- 



362 MODERN JAPAN 

operation in the Pacific for the purpose of attaining 
the common object against Germany and her alUes 
have been reached between the representatives of 
the Imperial Japanese Navy, who are attached to 
the special mission of Japan, and the representatives 
of the United States Navy." 

These sentiments of Secretary Lansing's appear 
to have been fully reciprocated by Viscount Ishii. 
Before leaving for Japan he issued a statement 
which, in addition to complimentary references to 
our Secretary of State and the American people, 
contained these expressions of confidence and good 
will : 

"The new understanding in regard to the line of 
policy to be followed by Japan and America re- 
specting the Republic of China augurs well for the 
undisturbed maintenance of the harmonious accord 
and good neighborhood between our two countries. 
It certainly will do away with all doubts that have 
now and then shadowed the Japanese-American 
relationship. It cannot fail to defeat for all time 
the pernicious effects of German agents, to whom 
every new situation developing in China always fur- 
nished so fruitful a field for black machinations. 
For the rest, this new understanding of ours sub- 
stantiates the solidity of comradeship which is daily 
gaining strength among the honorable and worthy 
nations of the civilized world." 

This entente was further strengthened by a special 
agreement which allotted to Japan a considerable 
quantity of steel and iron, of which she stood in 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 363 

great need, in return for tonnage or shipping to 
the Allies. 

The Lansing-Ishii Agreement met with almost 
universal approval in the press of the United States 
and the Allies. Though not made the subject of a 
protest as misrepresented in some quarters, it did 
undoubtedly cause great concern in China, and the 
Chinese Government indicated that it did not con- 
sider itself bound by its provisions. 

The greatest objection to the agreement was our 
recognition of Japan's special interests in China on 
grounds of geographical propinquity. Yet it was 
the recognition of an undoubted truth, for the fun- 
damental facts of geography and particular trade 
relationships can be neither denied nor evaded. The 
extent of these concessions or recognition on our 
part could only be weighed if the "conversations" 
between Viscount Ishii and Secretary Lansing were 
published. 

Japan's special interests in China from the stand- 
point of territorial propinquity or contiguity must 
relate first of all to South Manchuria and possibly 
to Eastern Inner Mongolia and the provinces of 
Fukien and Shantung. 



The Lansing-Ishii Agreement seems to mark for 
Japan a decisive crisis in her Far Eastern Diplo- 
macy. Japan stands at the crossroads in interna- 



364 MODERN JAPAN 

tional relations — Sit a transition point between what 
we may call the older and the newer diplomacy. 

The distinction is one both of aims and methods. 
According to the older conception of diplomacy, 
China was a happy hunting ground for concession 
hunters, loan syndicates and traders of various na- 
tionalities. In furtherance of imperiahstic designs 
on the part of certain autocratic governments (es- 
pecially Russia and Germany) and in accordance 
with the principles of "dollar diplomacy," these gov- 
ernments vied among themselves, often using du- 
bious methods, in securing by means of "treaty'' 
rights, trade advantages, privileges, loans, conces- 
sions or monopolies for their respective nationals, 
whether corporations or individuals. The result 
was that Peking became a hotbed of diplomatic in- 
trigue, and a privileged position in China became 
an object of political wire-pulling (not unaccom- 
panied by fraud and threats of force) to the extent 
that the very independence and territorial integrity 
of the country were threatened. 

The Chinese Empire was divided into "spheres 
of interest" and even forced to "lease" certain vital 
portions of her territory to several European Pow- 
ers. Indeed, matters had reached such a point by 
the year 1898, after the "leasing" of Kiao-Chou to 
Germany and of Port Arthur to Russia, that China 
was in great danger of dismemberment. 

China was indeed in sore need of a champion in 
1899, when John Hay, then our Secretary of State, 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 365 

stepped out upon the arena of Far Eastern politics 
and issued his famous Circular Note to the Powers 
in order to "maintain an open market for the world's 
commerce and to remove dangerous sources of in- 
ternational irritation." Mr. Hay sought to obtain 
and did in part obtain from the Powers concerned — 
Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Russia and 
Japan — formal assurances to the following effect: 
(i) that they would not interfere with any treaty- 
port or with the vested interest of any nation within 
a so-called "sphere of interest" or leased territory 
which one of them might have in China; (2) that 
they would maintain the Chinese treaty tariff (ex- 
cept in "free ports") under Chinese management, 
i. e., guarantee equality of treatment for all nations 
under the most favored nation clause; and (3) that^^ 
there shall be equality of treatment for all nations in 
respect to harbor dues and railroad charges. 

These proposals constitute our statement of what 
is generally known as the open-door policy in China, 
or the principle of equal opportunity to trade for all 
nations. Together with a long series of declarations 
(to which the other nations, more particularly Ja- 
pan, have again and again assented) in favor of the 
independence and territorial integrity of China, they 
constitute the main features of our policy in the Far 
East. 

Doubtless these principles have again and again 
been violated (more particularly by Japan since the 
Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05), but they form 



366 MODERN JAPAN 

the basis of a new diplomacy and constitute a sort 
of Magna Charta for freedom of trade in China and 
the preservation of Chinese independence. These 
principles must be maintained^ by force if necessary, 
if China is to remain free and our rights to par- 
ticipate in the development of that vast country are 
to be maintained. 

In the spring of 191 5 it looked for a time as 
if Japan v^ould not hesitate to take advantage 
of the opportunity afforded by the great European 
war and our own state of inertia and unprepared- 
ness to set aside these principles altogether and es- 
tablish a protectorate over China. This would have 
been the inevitable outcome of her insistence upon 
the adoption by the Chinese Government of the 
whole of the twenty-one demands which were then 
presented at Peking. 

But better counsels prevailed, and the worst of 
these demands were not included in the ultimatum 
which Japan issued to China in May, 191 5. Since 
that unfortunate date in Chinese history the Japa- 
nese Government has followed a more liberal and 
enlightened policy in Japan and China, and the Lan- 
sing-Ishii Agreement between Japan and the 
United States bears witness to this fact. 

Japan has truly reached the parting of the ways in 
her Far Eastern policy. Her conduct in China and 
consequently her relations with the United States 
are bound to become better or worse. Either she 
will revert to her old aims and methods learned in 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 367 

an evil school and taught by bad European exam- 
ples, or she will whole-heartedly and unreservedly 
adopt the aims and methods of the newer diplo- 
macy as advocated and practised by the United 
States. In the latter event, China will probably be 
saved, and the United States, recognizing the "spe- 
cial position" ol Japan in the contiguous and adja- 
cent provinces, will only be too glad to co-operate 
with Japan and other nations in the guidance and 
industrial development of the Chinese Empire. 



VI 



There has beea much recent discussion of the 
question of Japanese intervention in Siberia. Our 
decision in this matter must rest mainly upon our 
answer to two questions: Can Japan be trusted 
with the leadership of such an important mission? 
What is likely to be the effect of such Japanese in- 
tervention upon the Russians themselves? 

It is evident that no offhand answer can be given 
to either of these questions. That an allied interven- 
tion of a military and political as well as an economic 
nature is absolutely necessary if Russia is to be res- 
cued from the embraces of the German monster 
goes without saying. And it also seems true that 
the bulk of military support or the sinew^s of war 
must be furnished by Japan. 

It is highly desirable that Russian sympathy and 
support be obtained for this necessary intervention., 



368 MODERN JAPAN 

But the German menace is so great, the emergency- 
is so serious, the crisis is so acute, that it may be 
necessary to intervene against the wishes of a large 
number of the Russian people themselves in order 
to save them and us from future Teutonic domina- 
tion and the Bolshevik menace. It is to be hoped 
that adequate allied forces under Japanese leadership 
will be sent into Russia in order to rescue the 
land and its people from imminent and perhaps per- 
manent enslavement. 

But more than military intervention is needful. 
With the armed forces should go an army of Amer- 
ican engineers, educators, sociologists, Red Cross 
nurses, Y. M. C. A. workers and missionaries, en- 
trusted with the mission of undoing the nefarious 
work of the Bolshevik and German propagandists, 
and of aiding the Russians once more to stand upon 
their own feet in an industrial and commercial as 
well as in a political and military way. 

The Japanese must be given a large, if not a major 
share, in this enterprise. There is no alternative 
but to trust Japan in this matter if, for no other 
reason, because it will help to make Japan trust- 
worthy. If we do not trust the Japanese, and if 
Germany is permitted to penetrate and dominate 
Russia, this island people may eventually be forced 
to make terms with the Central Powers. 

In a notable interview with Mr. Gregory Mason 
of the Outlook'^ staff Count Terauchi thus expressed 

♦See N. Y. Outlook for May i, 191S 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 369 

himself upon the chances for an alliance between 
Japan and Germany : 

"That will depend entirely on how the present 
war may end. It is impossible to predict the 
changes which the conclusion of this war may bring. 
If the exigencies of international relationship de- 
mand it, Japan, being unable to maintain a posi- 
tion of total isolation, may be induced to seek an 
ally in Germany; but, as far as I can judge from 
the existing condition of affairs, I see no such dan- 
ger. In other words, I believe that Japan's relations 
with the Entente Allies will continue unaltered after 
the present war. . . . 

"What we fear deeply is the possible advent of 
the German influence in the East, and we will have 
to be prepared against possible emergencies, for Ger- 
m.any may push her influence too far eastward. But 
if Japan be obliged to take military action in Si- 
beria, such action will be taken simply because of 
the necessity of maintaining the peace of the Orient, 
and will never mean aggression or territorial am- 
bition on the part of Japan. . . . 

"For Japan, in particular, it is very desirable that 
Russia should lie between Japan and Germany; so 
we will not stint our aid to her, but will give her 

all possible help It is Japan's sincere 

hope that Russia should be reborn into a strong, 
well-ordered state. We believe that the existence 
of Russia as an independent nation will constitute 
an effective barrier against the encroachment of Ger- 
man influence toward the East, and therefore will 
be a great factor toward promoting the peace of the 
Orient and of the whole world." 



370 MODERN JAPAN 

Japan's great fear is a fear of isolation. This is 
why she consummated the Anglo-Japanese Alliance 
and later drew close to Russia. This is why she 
is now cultivating the United States, her interests 
and Sea Power drawing her to the side of Great 
Britain and the United States. Her interests as a 
Continental Power in Korea, Manchuria and China 
draw her to the side of Russia, and might, if Ger- 
many dominated Siberia, draw her to the side of 
Germany. But we believe that her interests as a 
Sea Power will in the long run hold her true to the 
cause of the Allies. This will unquestionably be the 
case if Germany is beaten in this war. And to be 
beaten in this war, Germany must also be beaten in 
Russia. 



VII 



Apart from her treatment of China during the 
earlier period of the war, Japan has displayed a 
friendly and helpful disposition toward the Allies, 
especially since the advent to power of Count Te- 
rauchi in the fall of 19 16. Though her share in the 
struggle has sometimes been exaggerated, Japan has 
played a not inconsiderable role, especially on the 
high seas. She not only completely destroyed Ger- 
many's military and commercial stronghold in the 
Far East at Kiao-chou, but her cruisers have been 
active on the Pacific and in the Indian Ocean as 
well as in the China Seas. In February, 1914, Japan 



RECENT DEVELOPMENTS 371 

even landed marines at Singapore to assist in quell- 
ing disturbances there, and her torpedo destroyers 
have chased submarines in the Mediterranean. 

Japan has not only supplied Russia with enor- 
mous quantities of arms and ammunition, but she 
has also furnished Russia and other Allies with 
other supplies. Considering her limited means, she 
has also invested largely in British and Russian 
bonds. 

To be sure, as in the case of the United States 
prior to our entry into the war, the Japanese have 
made enormous profits out of the war. By the au- 
tumn of 19 16 her specie holdings had increased from 
$175,000,000 to nearly $350,000,000 and her ship- 
building and cotton industries had expanded enor- 
mously. In 19 1 6 her spindles showed an increase 
of 2,763,000 with 123,000 new hands. Large fac- 
tories were being erected and fresh capital was being 
invested in the chemical, metal and other industries. 

Japan has been criticized for her apparent indif- 
ference and lukewarmness in the struggle. But 
while it does seem as if she might have done more, 
particularly in the matter of furnishing tonnage or 
shipping at the time of the greatest allied need, it 
should be remembered that to the Japanese the war 
seemed very far away; and, as in the case of the 
United States, she did not become greatly alarmed 
or excited until the smoke had begun clearly and 
unmistakably to blow in her direction. In the case 
of Japan, this was only after the debacle in Russia 



Zy2. MODERN JAPAN 

had become clearly evident and after the United 
States had become directly involved in the struggle. 

Nippon must and will do her full part in this great 
war for freedom and democracy. The spirit of 
Bushido is not dead. Japan is not wholly given 
over to materialism and utilitarianism. As Viscount 
Ishii, the Japanese Ambassador to the United States, 
has recently said in a speech delivered on July 4th, 
191 8, "To the old Samurai of Japan the sword was 
the symbol of spotless honor. His right to wear it 
signified his worthiness to use it aright." 

Viscount Ishii is said to have concluded his ad- 
dress with this message from the people of Japan to 
the people of America : 

"We trust you, we love you, and, if you will let 
us, we will walk at your side in loyal good-fellow- 
ship down all the coming years." 

America fully reciprocates these sentiments, and 
it remains for the peoples and Governments of both 
countries to show by acts and deeds as well as by 
words that these sentiments have a more than emo- 
tional basis and are, indeed, a living reality. 

THE END 



INDEX 



INDEX 



ADOPTION! of daughters, 190; of husband for daughter, 
21, 22; of orphans, 214; of son, 21. 

AGNOSTICISM, 116. 

AGRICULTURAL INSTITUTIONS, see Education. 

AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS: 13; experimental stations, 
16. 

AMERICAN IDEALS; compared with Japanese, see West- 
ern Ideals and Civilization. 

ANCESTORS. Imperial. 50. 

ANCESTOR-WORSHIP, 18, 19, 112. 

ANGLO-JAPANESE ALLIANCE, 262, 280, 326, 343, 347, 
370. 

ARABLE LAND, 11. 

ARMY: 220; appropriations, 153. 

ASIATIC EXCLUSION LEAGUE, 321. 

ASSOCIATION CONCORDIA, 120. 

BENEVOLENCES: see Chapter XI; Imperial, 209; State, 

209. 210. 
BONIN ISLANDS, 256. 
BOXER UPRISING, 277, 279. 
BROTHEL KEEPER, see Yoshiwara. 
BROTHELS, see Yoshiwara. 

BUDDHISM, 19, 21, 22, 24, 84, 85, 88-99, 118, 198, 207. 
BUDDHISTIC CANON, 95. 
BUREAUCRACY, 16, 113, 114, 215. 
BUSHIDO, 26, 95, 103, 105, 372. 
BUSINESS METHODS, 136, 141, 144, 148. 

CABINET, 223, 226, 235. 

CALIFORNIA LAND ACT, see Heney-Webb Land BaL. 

CAMPHOR, 132-133. 

CAPITAL, 147. 

CAPITALISTS, 15, 153, 157, 178. 

CELIBACY, 19. 20. 

CHANGLI AFFAIR, 294. 

CHARITIES AND BENEVOLENCES, see Chapter XL 

CHARTER OR IMPERIAL OATH, 48, 49. 

CHILD. 28, 32, 38, 41, 46, 47. 

375 



n(^ INDEX 

CHILD LABOR, 162, 167, 174-175. 

CHILDREN, ownership of, 22. 

CHINA, 128, 255, 257-260, 262, 265, 277, 285, 290, see Chap- 
ter XVI, 342, 343, 346, see Chapter XIX. 

CHINDA, VISCOUNT, 328-330. 

CHINESE: civilization, 1, 19; indemnity, 294: influence, 
100, 101, 104. 

CHINO-JAPANESE TREATY, 282. 

CHINO-JAPANESE WAR, 258. 

CHO, 52. 

CHOSEN, see Korea. 

CHRISTIANITY, see Chapter VII, 186, 206. 

CIRCULAR NOTE, see John Hay. 

CLAN, 19, 225. 

CLANDESTINISM, 43. 

CLIMATE, 10. 

COASTWISE TRADE, see Trade. 

CO-EDUCATION, see Education. 

COMMERCIAL RIVALRY, 2. 

COMMUNITY FEELING, see Public Opinioic. 

CONCUBINES, 21, 24, 190. 

CONFUCIANISM, 19, 21, 22, 23, 24, 51, 84, 100-105, 198. 

CONSTITUTION, 220, 223, 235. 

CONVENTION OF TIENTSIN. 257. 

COTTON, see Industries, Textile. 

COURT, 92. 

CRIMINALS, 187. 

DIPLOMATIC PRESSURE, 143. 
DISEASE, 179. 
DIVORCE, 20, 24. 
DUTCH INFLUENCE, 110. 

EARTHQUAKES, 182. 

ECONOMIC CONDITIONS, 6, 7, 15; see Chapters IX, X. 

EDUCATION: 22, 38, 39, 40, 44, 67 \ agricultural, 15, 16, 56, 
61 ; Chinese students, 291 ; co-education, 68 ; commercial, 
15, 16, 56, 61 ; council of, 52 ; criticism of, 74, 79 ; 
Department of, 52, 54, 70, 113; elementary schools, 
55, 56, 71, 72; endowment funds, 54; fees, 53; govern- 
ment support, 12>, 74; high schools, 58, 59, 12-, Imperial 
Rescript, 50, 51; Imperial Universities, 54, 58, 62-64; 
language, 61; middle schools, 57, 58; mining, 61; minister 
of, 52; mission schools, 65, 66; music, 61; national fund, 
54; normal schools, 71, 72; preparatory schools, 57; pri- 
vate schools, 65, (i^ ; public schools, 53 ; sericulture, 61 ; 
statistics of, 68, 69; system of, 48-79, 234; text-books, 70. 



INDEX 377 

ELECTORS, 232. 

ELDER STATESMEN, see GENRa 

ELDEST SON, 29, 30. 

EMPEROR, 51, 83, 84, B>7, 92, 197, 209, 216, 220, 223, 228, 

249, 250. 
EMPRESS JINGU, 255. 

EUROPE : comparison with, 3 ; criticism of, 32, 184-187. 
EXPORTS, 134, 142. 

FACTORY: compounds, 158; conditions, 149, 158-168; 

dormitories, 159; employers, 164-166; hospitals, 159; 

legislation, 169-170, 173-175; recruiting, 162-163; theaters, 

159, 164. 
FAMILY, 14, 18, 19, 26, 27, 29, 30. 
FARMING, 12, 13. 
FEUDAL CHIEFS, 107, 108, 201, 202. 
FEUDAL CUSTOMS, 18, 152, 153, 168-170. 
FEUDALISM, 24, 29, 168-169. 
FEUDAL LORDS, see Feudal Chiefs. 
FILATURE, 14. 

FISHING: association, 130; training school, 130. 
FLEET: merchant marines, 125, 137-140; "mosquito," 140; 

tramp boats, 140. 
FLOODS AND FAMINES, 182, 197, 201. 
FORESTRY: 130, 132; commissioners of, 130; re-forestra- 

tion, 130, 204, 266. 
FORMOSA, 133, 255, 258. 

FOUR POWER LOAN SYNDICATE, 292-293. | 
FU, 52, 231. 

GEISHA, 188-189. 

GENRO (elder statesmen), 225, 226, 227, 239-242, 249, 250, 
295. 

"GENTLEMEN'S AGREEMENT," 324, 334, ZZ7, 

GEOGRAPHY, 9. 

GERMAN INTRIGUE, 347, 355. 

GISO (public granary), 199, 201, 202. 

GODS: 18; local, 27, 28. 

GOVERNMENT: 113, 124, 125, see Chapter XII, 238; aid 
of business enterprises, 136, 146, 147; control of busi- 
ness, 143-145; enterprises, 133-134; institutions, 16; 
monopolies, 133, 134, 156; subsidies and bounties, 137-140, 
146, 147. 

GREAT EUROPEAN WAR, 295, 344, 347, 348. 

GREATER VEHICLE, 90, 91. 

GUILDS: farmers', 17; mutual benefit, 203; trade, 144, 145. 

GULICK PLAN FOR RACE ABSORPTION, 338-340. 

GUN. 52. 



378 INDEX 

HAY, JOHN, 364-365. 

HEARN, LAFCADIO, 28. 

HENEY-WEBB LAND BILL, 327, 328, 331, 342, 345. 353. 

HIDEYOSHI, 255. 

HOUSEHOLD : domestic, 41 ; Imperial, 215. 

HOUSE OF PEERS, 227, 229-230, 250, 252. 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 229, 231, 251. 

IMMIGRATION, 342. 

IMPERIAL CHARITY FUND, 179. 

IMPERIAL DIET, 220-222, 227, 228, 235-237. 

IMPERIAL ORDINANCE, 221-222. 

IMPERIAL RESCRIPT, see Education. 

IMPERIAL UNIVERSITIES, see Education. 

IMPORTS, 12. 

INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT: 126; expansion, 124, 130; 

institutions, 56. 
INDUSTRIES: 133, 146; textile, 135, 136, 157. 
INTEREST ON CAPITAL, 17, 182. 
INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS (Japan and United 

States), see Chapters XVIII, XIX. 
ISHII-LANSING AGREEMENT, 358-359, 363. 
ISHII, VISCOUNT, 357-361, 372. 
ITO, COUNT, 221, 228, 230, 231, 235, 237, 240, 257, 263. 

JAPAN: arable land of, 11; area of, 9; climate of, 10; 
characteristics of, 2-3; criticism of, 3-6, 46; morality of, 
142; officials of, 4; scenery of, 131 ; standards of, 6, 31-33; 
strategic position of, 10-11 ; thrift of, 132. 

JESUITS IN JAPAN, 106. 

JORO, 189-191. 

KAIBARA, teachings of, 23, 

KAMI, 18, 19, 80-82, 93. 

KATO, BARON, 295, 296, 297. 

KATSURA, PRINCE, 245. 

KEN, see Fu. 

KIAO-CHOU, 297, 302, 309, 310, 312, 313, 364, 370. 

KNOX PROPOSAL, 287, 288, 325. 

KOREA: 88, 100, 107, 121, 135, see Chapter XIV, 278, 284; 

education in, 269-274; foreign trade of, 267, 268; queen 

of, 260. 

LABOR : conditions, see Chapters IX, X ; recruiting of, 158, 
162-163; unskilled, 150; uprisings of, 154; wages, 69, 146- 
150, 163. 

LANDLORDS, 15, 202. 



INDEX 379 



LANSING, SECRETARY, 358-362. 

LEPERS, 122. 

LL\0-TUNG PENINSULA, 258, 259, 261, 277, 295. ■ 

LICENSED PROSTITUTION, see Yoshiwara, Chapter X. 

LITTLE VEHICLE. 91. 

LOYALTY, 26, 104. 

MAN: deification of, 20, 32; dominance of, 22, 24, 32; mod- 
ern progressive, 31. 

MANCHURIA, 126, 136, see Chapter XV, 311, 348, 351. 

MANUFACTORIES, 125. 

MANUFACTURES: 14, 158; raw material, 127. 

MARRIAGE, 20', 26, 41, 42, 43. 

MERCHANT MARINES, see Fleet. 

MIKADO, see Emperor. 

MINERALS, 126. 

MINES: 128, 129-150, 304; inspection of, 129, 157; operators 
of, 152. 

MINING: 125, 150-151, 153; conditions of, 151-154. 

MINISTERS, 223. 

MISSIONARIES IN JAPAN, 4-5, 65, 72, 106, 109, 111, 112, 
117, 206, 214. 

MISSION SCHOOLS, see Education. 

MONEY-LENDERS, 182. 

MONGOLIA, 348. 350. 351. 

MONROE DOCTRINE: 317-318; for Asia, 316. 

MORALITY: commercial, Th; sex, Th\ see Chapter X. 

MOTHER-IN-LAW, 31, 32, 41. 

MOTHERS, 45. 

MUTUAL AID, 152, 201, 203-205. 

NATURE- WORSHIP, 18. 

NAVY, 153, 220. 

NEW CIVIL CODE, 25. 

NIPPON YUSEN KAISHA, see Merchant Marines. 

NIRVANA, 90, 91. 

OCCIDENTAL CIVILIZATION, see Western Civh^iza- 

TION. 

OKUMA, COUNT, 226, 235, 237, 238, 242, 243, 244, 246, 251, 

295, 297, 298, 309, 316, 348. 
OKUSAMA, 32. 
OLD JAPAN, 80, 112, 176. 
ORIENTAL: civilization, 3, 21, 120; bias, 31, 32; trade, see 

Trade. 
OSTRACISM, 28. 



38o INDEX 

PANAMA CANAL, 135, 140. 

PARLIAMENT, 223. 

PATRIARCHAL: customs, 18, 20, 30; ideals, 18, 21, 32; 
system, 18, 20, 21, 31. 

PATRIARCHAL FEUDAL SYSTEM, see Feudalism. 

PATRIOTISM, 15, 7Z, 87, 112. 

PAUPERISM, see Slums. 

PEASANTS: 12, 14, 15, 16; conditions of, 148-149; co-opera- 
tion of, 17; indebtedness of, 14, 149, 162, 182. 

PERRY, COMMODORE, 111, 218-219. 

PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, 344. 

POLITICAL CONDITIONS, 6, 7. 

POLITICAL PARTIES, see Chapter XIIL 

POPULATION, 11, 12. 

PORT ARTHUR, 277, 280, 281, 312, 364. 

PORTUGUESE: exclusion, 110; influence, 106, 107. 

POVERTY, 17, 162, 163, see Chapter X. 

PRIMARY SCHOOLS, see Education. 

PRISON REFORM, 210-212. 

PRIVY COUNCIL, 224-225, 236, 250. 

PROSTITUTION: 194-195; licensed, see Chapter X. 

PUBLIC OPINION, 27, 28, 35, 36. 

RACE ISSUES, 321-323, 326, 335, 338-340, 342, 345. 

RAILROADS, 134. 

RECREATION, 15. 

RED CROSS, 207. 

RE-FORESTRATION, see Forestry. 

RELIGION: 27, 31, 51, 80-123; see CoNFuaANiSM, Bud- 
dhism^ Shintoism, Christianity, Missionaries. 

RELIGIOUS REFORMATION, 95; reformers, 96. 

RESTORATION, 142, 217, 218, 219, 225. 

REVENUE, 132. 

ROMANTIC LOVE, 25, 26. 

RUSSIA, 255, 260. 

RUSSO-JAPANESE AGREEMENT, 348-349. 

RUSSO-JAPANESE CONVENTION, 289. 

RUSSO-JAPANESE WAR, 54, 61, 204, 240, 261, 278, 280, 
282, 283, 320, 365. 

SAGHALIN, 255. 

SALT 133 134 

SALVATION ARMY, 122, 206. 

SAMURAI, 26, 95, 105, 141-142, 218, 254. 

SAN FRANCISCO SCHOOL CONTROVERSY, 319, 322, 

323 
SANITATION, 180-181. 



INDEX 381 



SATSUMA REBELLION, 256. 

"SAVE FACE," 35, 342. 

SCHOOLS, see Education. 

SERICULTURE, 14, 16, 205. 

SHI, 52. 

SHIBUSAWA, BARON, 169, 343, 348. 

SHINRAN. see Religious Reformers. 

SHIN SECT, see Buddhism. 

SHIN SHU, see Religious Reformers. 

SHINTOISM, 18, 19, 28, 80-88, 93. 

SHOGUNS, 218. 

SILK, 134, 141. 

SINO-JAPANESE CRISIS, 310. 

SLUMS, 176-181. 

SOCIAL: abuses, 169, 171; conditions, 6, 7, 12, 18, see 

Chapter X, 20O; evils, 18, see Chapter X; reform, 172; 

welfare, 121, 122, 198, 203-205. 
SOCIALISM, 134, 154-156. 
SOCIALISTS: 154-156; publications, 155. 
SON, see Cho. 
SOUTH MANCHURIAN RAILWAY, 280, 281, 282, 286, 

312. 
SOYA BEAN, 285. 

SPANISH EXCLUSION, 110; influence, 106. 
STATECRAFT, 216. 
STRATEGIC POSITION, 10-11. 
STRIKES, see Labor Uprisings, 
SUBSIDIARY OCCUPATIONS, 14. 
SUFFRAGE, 233-234. 
SUPERSTITION, 15, 86. 

TAXES, 14, 146, 176, 182, 199, 200. 

TEA, 141. 

TEACHERS: salaries, 69; pensions, 69. 

TEMPLES AND SHRINES, 130, 187. 

TERAUCHI, COUNT, 249, 250, 314, 352, 353, 356, 368-369. 

TOKUGAWA SHOGUNATE, 254, 255. 

TOPOGRAPHY, 8-10. 

TOYO KISEN KAISHA. see Merchant Marines. 

TRADE: American, 136-137; coastwise, 140; expansion of, 

141, 147; foreign, 125, 142, 144; Oriental, 136. 
TRADE-MARK PIRACY, 143. 
TRAMP BOATS, see Flect. 
TREATY OF PORTSMOUTH, 240, 280, 320. 
TSING-TAU, 299, 301. 
TUBERCULOSIS, 166. 
TWENTY-ONE ARTICLES OF DEMAND ON CHINA, 

303-306, 308. 



3^2 INDEX 

UJIGAMI, see Gk3Ds. 

ULTIMATUM TO GERMANY, 295-297. 

USURY, 182. 

WAGES, see Labor. 

WAR CHEST, 54. 

WAR POSSIBILITIES, see Chapter XVIII 

W. C. T. U., 122, 206. 

WEBB ACT, see Henry-Webb Land Bill 

WESTERN CIVILIZATION AND IDEALS, 1, 2 3 6 25 
29, 116, 120, 121. * ' ' ' ' ""' 

WESTERN CRITICISM, 184-185. 

WOMAN ; characteristics of, 31 ; domestic status of, 32, 41-42 • 
education of, 32, 38, 39, 47; emancipation of, 31, 38 42* 
43; legal status of, 24, 25; movements, 36, 37; obedience 
of, 22, 43, 44; religion of, 31; social status of, 23, 24, 23, 
34, 35; sterility of, 20; subjection of, 20, 21, 25, 31, 32. 
41 ; unrest of, 35, 36, 37, 38, 40. 

WOMEN'S PATRIOTIC SOCIETY. 207. 208 

WOMEN WORKERS, 158. 

WORKING HOURS, 159-160, 163, 174, 175. 

YAMAMURA, COLONEL, 192, 195. 

Y. M. C A., 99, 122, 206. 

YOSHIWARA: 17, 122, see Chapter X; contract. 1- ^ 192; 
corruption, 193; government assessment, 193; gur^ or, 
191-192; keeper, 191; recruiting for, 183, 190; regul; -ns' 

Y. W. C. A., 206. 

YUAN-SHIH KAI, 293, 306, 314. 

ZEN PRIESTS, 95. 
ZEN SECT, 101. 
ZIMMERMAN NOTE, 355-356. 



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